All the way back to his flat, Spike said very little, leaving Beth, Willow and Xander to talk enough for everyone. It wasn’t that Spike made a conscious decision not to talk; All Spike could think about was the meeting of his grand-sire. There were low points like when he acted so pompous and superior, but what’s new? But during their meeting tonight, there were definitely some new high points for Spike to store away in his memory. Upon seeing the poof, not only had Beth helped out along with Willow and Xander. In fact, those three made old Peaches turn tail and run. Another thing providing excellent points was Beth’s reaction to Angel, which was a Big. Fat. Zip. Spike honestly thought he could fly to the moon right now because of the fact that she had recognized him in the mall but didn’t remember the supposed love of her life when she was standing across from him, or even talking to him. Spike just wanted to roar, “Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha,” in the blighters face. Immature, but he didn’t care. One would think that if Angel was the love of her life, her soul mate, then she should have remembered Angel, instead she remembered him, the vampire who she had often professed not to love. He decided he may have gotten more of a reward than he asked from the Powers That Be. A new chance with a love that wouldn’t give him a chance before. The storm cloud that was Angel would no longer hang over his relationship with Beth.

So Spike drove in his own happy zone until he caught a casual remark from Willow. “That Angel guy certainly wasn’t my idea of anyone from heaven, which was a shame since he was a hottie.” Yet, he only listened to Willows commit and wanted to puke, but Beth’s reply that burned into his brain. “Yeah, he was good looking in a dark sort of way, but…” That was all Spike heard because his anger and jealousy over ran any rational thoughts. His head snapped around to stare at her. However she was too busy talking to notice. Having to still watch the road, he looked forward again yet used his hands in place of his eyes. He reached over and ran his fingers along one side of her neck, and then the other. Oblivious to his boiling rage, she glanced over at him with a smile, enjoying what she assumed to be affection. The feel of her warm, perfect skin should have alleviated some of his fury but didn’t dissipate in the least. Beth didn’t have Buffy’s scars from vampire bites. Not the Master’s, not Dracula’s, and most importantly, not Angel’s. None. Seeing those marks on Buffy always reminded him of what he could never have her. Knowing that the marks were no longer there only made his demon howl in his head, demanding to claim Beth as his mate. The more Spike thought about it, the more he raced down a spiral to a primitive level.

When they arrived at the funeral home, Spike held himself together while everyone said their good-byes for the night. But before the doors of Xander’s SUV shut, Spike grabbed Beth’s wrist and pulled her towards the private entrance to the building. One word screamed in his head with every step he took up the stairs to his loft. ‘Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine…’ Spike shoved open the door, roughly ushering her inside.

Catching her completely by surprise, Beth didn’t even hear the door close before he grabbed her arm, spinning her to face him before slamming her against one of the walls of the foyer. With no preamble, his lips immediately crushed down on hers, swift and hard, inflaming her desire for him. Continuing his assault on her mouth and her tongue, his hands came up on either side of her face, not as a caress but to firmly hold her still. She felt his hands curl in her hair, gripping tightly, leaving her no room to turn her head. Not that she wanted to. She groaned against his mouth as he ground his hard cock against her stomach, making her need him all the more.

The kiss lasted on and on with Spike only stopping long enough to allow her to gulp for air, before continuing where they left off. Beth felt like she was being eaten alive, and she was happy to be his breakfast, lunch, dinner, and maybe a midnight snack if they still had the energy. She didn’t know what changed William tonight, but she was fascinated to see this different side of his personality. She had experienced with him love making in many different ways, such as sweet, gentle, insatiable, playful, affectionate, even needy though she knew he would never admit it. The list went on, but never forceful. Of course, she didn’t have a vast amount of experience with men, and her first and last boyfriend treated her as if she were made of glass, too easily broken. Her one night stand wasn’t even worth thinking about. Since he was older, Beth assumed William had more experience with women, so he would know more. Regardless, this was a new animalist side of him, slamming her into the wall hinted at violence. Hell, more than she had done before, and this fringe of fierce aggression both scared and excited her. Now, she did have the good sense to recognize possible trouble with a man whose libido was pumping large amounts of testosterone through his system. Nevertheless, she innately knew that she trusted William, knowing that she trusted him, to take her to the brink of danger but no farther.

Beth finally felt Spike let go of his grip of her hair, ending the kiss to take a step back. She stayed where he had pinned her as he hands quickly move down to tightly squeeze her breasts before he savagely ripped her shirt open. He grabbed her breast from underneath, lifting it up to suckle her nipple through the lace, and she shivered when she felt his mouth make the lace rub against her nipple. His free hand grasped her mound through her skirt, feeling her through the material as he pressed his fingers against the lips of her sex. Beth heard him growl before he grabbed the lace of her bra between his teeth and tore it so there was nothing between his mouth and her nipple. God, she had no idea that foreplay with your clothes on could be so mind-blowing. Not like petting in the back seat of a car or missionary style in a dorm room, but foreplay that made her want be fucked until she couldn’t walk for a week, which she suspected and hoped that was exactly what he was going to do to her before the end of the night.

He ran his tongue around her pert nipple before sucking it into his mouth. Spike could smell and feel the dampness of her arousal on his fingers. Glancing down, he got aggravated with her skirt, and with a snarl, he jerked it completely off so that it fell to the floor, pooled around her feet.

When Spike returned his mouth to her breast, he licked and sucked her nipple into his mouth and then bit down just short of drawing blood. When she stiffed and froze, Spike slowly came out of his frenzy, realizing what he was doing to her. Backing up until he was against the opposite wall. He stared at her, feeling sickened at his behavior and disgust with himself. What he saw was Beth was pressed against a wall with her lips red from his bruising kisses, her shirt ripped open, the lace of one cup of her bra torn and hanging down, and her skirt ripped and lying on the floor.

It took Beth a minute to come down from the sexual high he had induced throughout her whole body. After blinking several times and trying to figure out why he had stopped, she focused on his face and saw with his eyes wide open and mouth hanging down. “What?” She asked him, confused, but he just continued to stare, looking as if wanted to move farther away but was stopped by the wall. It took a second, but she finally figured out that he was thinking. He was horrified, thinking that he had been too rough with her. ‘Ah, he just didn’t know how incredibly much she wanted him now due to how he was acting.’ She reached down with a feral glint in her eyes and twirled the side of her red thong around her finger. To make sure he understood she was more than willing, Beth pitched her voice silky smooth, “Do you think you can take care of these, too? I think they have been on long enough.” When her words registered with William, he was back, again slamming her against the wall, his mouth bruising her lips again, and also his testosterone obviously racing off the charts. Yet he surprised her when he didn’t immediately yank off her thong that she teased him with.

Reminding himself that she didn’t have the strength of the slayer to take what he gave, but Beth easily matching his ferocity. Spike didn’t know if he would ever get enough of this woman. Instead of taking care of that bit of lace keeping him from touching her dripping cunt, he raised a knee, nudging her legs farther apart. When his knee pressed against her sex, she broke the kiss to cry out before he pulled her head back and captured her lips again. When he ground his knee against her clit, he pressed the kiss even harder, not letting her break the kiss, only leaving her to whimper against his lips. When he finally let her come up for much needed air, she opened glazed eyes to beg, “Please, now. I need you NOW!”

Without a word, he stepped back, grabbed her hand and jerked her into the entertainment room, only to stop at the end of the sofa, the closest piece of furniture. With one hand on her hip and one on her back, he bent her over the arm of the sofa. She had never done anything like this, but that only made it the more titillating to do it with him. Only with him. She waited impatiently as she heard him undoing his belt and then unzipping his pants, but when he paused, she looked back to see that he only lowered his jeans enough to let his hard shaft free. He grabbed and firmly turned her head to face forward again and held it there for a moment, silently letting her know that she was to stay that way.

When Spike was satisfied that she would obey, he looked down at the view of the globes of her ass. Even though his hard-on was demanding to shove in deep, he held back. With the lace of the thong still between them, Spike took two fingers and rubbed Beth, starting at her clit, through the lips of her sex, barely pushing into her entrance through the lace, to finally brush against her anus. She jumped at the unexpected caress against that entrance. Eyes flashing yellow, he just got harder listening to her moans, cries and whimper. Hungry to tease her again, his fingers rubbed a couple of circles around the sensitive puckered skin of her so called forbidden entrance, savoring her sharp intake of breathes. Then he pushed inside of her dripping pussy through the lace before sliding up to her clit. A hard, little clit that he knew she wanted to be rubbed hard, which he was happy to oblige. With her deep moans, he pressed hard rubbing the hard nub. But then suddenly, his fingers left her, and she felt him take hold of her thong and sharply ripped it off her, causing her to yelp. He threw the remnants to land on the cushion in front of her face. For some reason, that excited her even more. She could feel one of his hands still gripping her hip tightly and anxiously waited to feel his fingers on her cunt again. She whimpered in anticipation. Instead, he used his other hand to position his cock almost touching her dripping entrance, and he sharply shove in, fully taking possession of her. When she cried out as she threw her head back, Spike growl when her cry changed into a “yes.” Without even pausing when he slammed into her clit, he was pulling back to thrust in again. She could feel his fingers biting into her hips hard enough that she knew he would leave bruises the next day and didn’t care, not when his hands were pulling her back so he could drive into her as deep as he could get. When he bent over her back, she wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but she did know that she loved the feel of him inside her caused by the slightly new position.

Spike’s uncontrolled hunger and his craving to claim her as his own caused tunnel vision; Spike’s could only see Beth, bent over in front of him and feel the friction of his cock forcibly gliding in and out of her. But he was greedy and wanted more. When he roughly brushed her hair aside, exposing her neck, his field of vision narrowed even more until his eyes focused on her succulent flesh of her neck calling to him. All the while he kept a pounding pace into her body, he leaned over and licked the side of her neck, once, twice, feeling the unmarred skin beneath his sensitive tongue, assuring himself again that no other vampires’ marks existed on her. Still controlling himself enough to use blunt teeth, he bit down into her neck over the jugular artery. Spike growled when he heard her make a husky sound of pleasure deep down in her throat before Beth tilted her head to the side, allowing him better access. He licked up and down her neck one more time before latching his teeth onto her skin once more. As he could feel her inner muscles squeeze his cock even tighter, declaring her approaching orgasm, he could feel the bones in his face begin their transformation, but he was still in control enough to pull back from her neck as his canines begin to lengthen.

When she felt him stop thrusting and straighten back up, she was instantly left wanting his teeth back on her neck, her body yelling for her release that his biting was bring on. Beth instinctually looked back to plead, but before she could turn very far, she felt his hand on the back of her, forcing her to keep looking forward. At the same time she heard him snarl, she felt him twist her long hair around his hand and pull back, effectively immobilizing her between his hand harshly pulling her hair and his hard shaft that was ramming into her again from behind. Her yelp of shock at the unexpected sensation of William pushing into her while pulling her back toward him soon changed to moans of pleasure as her orgasm started to build again, harder than before. He slammed into her once, twice, three more times before her orgasm hit her full force.

He felt her muscles tightly clenching and unclenching his cock as she came with such intense fervor. Spike was only able to last a few more strokes before he also lost control, coming inside of her with some last, bruising strokes. She heard him speak his first words since they said their goodbyes to Willow and Xander. Just one word in a harsh, demanding growl that left no doubt in her mind what he meant, “Mine.” As they were both coming down, Spike was finally able to shift back into his normal, human face so he could let her hair go. All Beth could muster was a contented sigh before she collapsed face down on the cushions of the sofa. She could hear him zipping his pants back up, not bothering with his belt, but she just felt too good to worry that most of her own clothes were no longer in any condition to put back on. All she had left was the remains of her shirt and her bra which both were in a pitiful condition, she thought with a sexually contented smile. As she was still recovering, Beth squealed as William picked her up off the comfortable leather. Again he surprised her; Instead of carrying her in his arms as she expected a boyfriend would, her lover threw her over his shoulder and headed out of the room.

“Hey, caveman much.” Beth playfully thumped William on the back. “What are you doing?” When he didn’t reply as they entered the living room, heading for the bedroom, she tried to squirm out of his hold but only received a bite on the ass for her trouble, which caused her to yelp. Spike felt his cock go rock hard again as he smelt her and the juices running out of her next to his face. He craved to throw her on the living room floor and take her again. He wasn’t done with her by far, but he made it the last few strides to his bedroom.

Instead throwing her down on the bed as she expected, he set her on her feet. She gave him a half smile, wondering what this ferocious side of William planned for her next. So far it had been a wild ride. A wild ,wonderful, and a thoroughly erotic ride. She didn’t have long to wait to ride again.

Spike may have been able to get his demon under control for now, but his fierce need to possess her was still driving his every move. Reaching out, he grabbed the remains of her shirt and ripped the rest off. Beth’s bra quickly followed, leaving her standing naked before him. Spike growled as she looked back at him, unashamed and fire in her eyes.

And she did have a fire fiercely burning for him inside of her. But before he could make his next move, Beth reached out, grabbed the sides of his button down shirt and as he had done to hers earlier in the foyer, she ripped it open. As the buttons flew around the room, she could tell she’d surprised him by the widening of his eyes, but turn about was fair play, she thought with a wicked smile. And playing with William was way more than fair, but down right fun. Actually, this night with him was more like a sensual bombardment with a twist of a possible overload. When he growled and reached for her again, she put her hand on his chest and forcibly shoved him back. He snarled as he reached for her once more, but this time she slapped his hands away. “My turn to play cavegirl.” He growled again but waited to see what she planned.

As Spike looked into her eyes, he saw her burning hunger for him, which excited him all the more. Her steady gaze announced that it was her turn to take control, daring him to refuse her.

Sitting down of the side of the bed, Beth grabbed the waist of his pants and sharply jerked him closer to her. Although she wanted to rip the jeans off as he had done to her skirt, she knew she didn’t have the strength. So, she unzipped his fly, jerked his pants down low enough to grab his erection tightly, relishing her taste of control. William had set the tone for the evening; she was more than happy to match his fierceness.

With a rumble in is chest, Spike watched her tongue slide out of her mouth and he noticed that she ran the wet tip across her teeth instead of her lip. He wanted to dive into her heat again, but his curiosity won out. Still looking into her eyes, he threaded his hands through her hair to hold her head but with no pressure. Spike begrudgingly conceding her control. For now.

When she grabbed the cheeks of his ass to push him into her mouth instead of going down of him, he broke eye contact to throw his head back with an agonizing cry. And his cry told her all she needed to know. Her unexpected force excited him more. William was tense with surprise as she kept thrusting him deep into her mouth. Beth waited until she felt him relaxing and giving control completely over to her, letting her guide the motions of his body. She had little experience with blow jobs, but with his trust and groans giving her confidence, she tried a new method for her. With a devilish smile, she thought he would like this technique, and judging from his actions since she tasted him, he thought he would. She backed his shaft out of her mouth until just the head was between her teeth and bit down, lightly but startling enough for his body to stiffen again before he growled. She laughed lightly before she nipped her way down the side of his cock and pulled his curly hair at the base with her teeth before biting her way back up.

Before tonight, Spike didn’t think he could sexually want this woman anymore than he already did, but she was proving him totally wrong. Her boldness almost had him almost coming before her teeth even made it back up to the head of his cock that first time. During their love making during the past few months, he had been holding back from biting her even with blunt teeth; that was until tonight when his need over took him. Yet here he was the vampire, not her, and he was the one in awe of this human’s ability to use her teeth. Not that he hadn’t had sex like this before. Rough and tumble with an accent rough. That kind of pain had been Dru’s and Angelus’ gig, not his. Dru had enjoyed biting, but with fangs and torture. Even though he was a vampire, fangs in the dick was something he had never enjoyed, so he had learned to redirect her during those times before she got her fangs near his crotch. Yet, Beth’s first bite made him think that he would go insane, craziness surpassing Dru’s, but her bites down his cock threatened to land him in a mental ward. Fighting for control, Spike willed his body not to come so he could feel Beth’s own sweet brand of torture longer. Her kind of sweet torture, he would to submit to anytime. Hell, all the time.

Still letting her set the pace with her hands gripping his ass, thrusting him into her mouth, she felt his hands now start to fist in her hair. She was surprised how much his reaction to what she was doing to him in turned aroused her. Beth thought she was going to come just from the obvious pleasure she was giving him. Growing even bolder, she began to alternate from pushing his shaft in and out of her mouth a few times and then biting her way along different sides of his cock until she could feel him losing control, letting his orgasm build. It excited her when she when William threw his head back, with his body arched and roared his overwhelming pleasure just as she tasted his seed shooting into her mouth. Drawing his orgasm out, she kept pumping him in and out a few more times, before flicking her tongue against the head of his cock.

Recovering from such an unbelievable orgasm, Spike couldn’t believe how satisfied this tantalizing woman made him feel. And he felt sated until she stood back up, licking her bruised and swollen lips, looking at him as if she had won the sexual war he started, the war they had waged since entering the loft. He took her gloating as a dare; one of those he didn’t feel like he had to accept, but a dare he was happy to accept, which was evident from his quickly hardening cock once more.

When she first stood up, Beth did have a smirk on her face, proud to see his dazed look of pleasure, but the soft, contented look in his eyes quickly shifted back into the hard hunger of before. Causing her to lift an eyebrow, Beth still wasn’t sure what was going on with him this night. “William, not that I’m complaining and believe me I’m not, but are you o…” The “k” never made it out of her mouth.

Still not speaking a word, William reached out and pushed her backwards onto the bed. Perfectly happy to finally make it to the bed, she made herself comfortable with her head propped up on her elbow and watched him start to take off his shirt and begin getting out of his pants. She guessing it wasn’t time to find out what was up with him, so she decided to tease him instead. With a playful tone to her voice, “Oh, noooo. I think you’re way worn out to go another round tonight.” She laughed as he snarled instead of talking. His eyes wandered up and down her body as she scooted to the middle of the bed, out of his reach. From the predatory look on William’s face, Beth felt her body heat up again, starting in between her legs, which made her want to she taunt him further. “Just a couple of seconds ago your legs were shaking way too much to go at it again, William,” she rolled his name rolled seductively off her tongue, “right after you were roaring as I drank from you.” She looked pointedly between his legs. “Ummm. It tasted so good, but I think you are…uh…too drained to do anything else.” Appreciating his lean body he stepped out of his jeans, she watched his eyes threateningly flare and listened to a growl rumble in his chest as he climbed on his hands and knees onto the bed. When he slowly stalked towards her, she moved to the farthest edge of the bed where she still wouldn’t fall off, trying to still stay out of his reach. She was incredibly aroused seeing him slowly stalking closer, making her wetter between her legs with his every move just as when he had had her pinned against the wall in the foyer. Taking in his own unique smell mixing with the smell of their sex and seeing his erection between his legs, made her mouth water as much as between her legs. When William did reach her, Beth watched his face hovered over hers, looking into his unreadable eyes that were boring into her own eyes. When he didn’t kiss her, she was frustrated and tried another bait. “You could take a nap. Ya know, recharge your battery. I guess I could wait until you rest up before we do anything else?” While growled but still didn’t kiss her, Beth playfully returned his growl as one more taunt. Before his lips finally crashed down on hers, she thought his eyes changed from their usual stunning blue to a bright yellow. But when his tongue immediately invaded her mouth, any thoughts of eyes flew off. Beth didn’t caring if his eyes had turned purple or black and white checkered, pushing the thoughts aside, she concentrated on fully enjoying the incredible sensations his incredible mouth and hands sent coursing through her body.

As Spike had been taking off his clothes, he had been thinking that she didn’t know how right she had been in her one of his taunts. Her mouth and teeth had made his legs weak. But during and after the orgasm that slammed into him, as she milked his seed out of him, not just his legs shook, but his whole body quivered. And then afterwards when she looked at him with smug victory in her eyes, her obvious triumphant pride in what her mouth had done to him only fueled his desire once again, Beth stoked his an uncontrollable and burning need to unconditionally possess her. So as he stripped out of his clothes, he hadn’t moved slowly across the bed to heighten the anticipation, but trying to control the raging demon inside of him that was again fighting to come forth, seeking to claim Beth as his mate. Claim her as a mate tonight. Whether he now had a soul or not, he was still a vampire. But tonight after seeing Angel, after hearing anything positive about the poof coming from Beth’s mouth, drove his demon too far and now he was tittering on the edge. However, if he had to admit the truth, not just the demon, all of him desperately wanted to sink his fangs into her. Not to taste her blood but to make some kind of permanent bond with the woman he loved. Spike didn’t kid himself; as Beth or Buffy, she would never accept the claim. Hell, Beth didn’t even know what a claim was, let alone know what he was asking of her or how to accept such an action. Even if she on the outside chance did love him, he knew his vampire side would never be satisfied. Every time the demon surged forward, Spike pushed the demanding need back down using his love for her as strength to help him resist such a devastating mistake. He reminded himself that he had given his promise to do nothing to trigger her past memories, and his game face or fangs in her neck would be a sure bet to bring back some slayer memories. He could see the Powers That Be tossing him into the Bastille of hell dimensions for that lapse in will power. So using his love for her and the fear of ruining his chances with Beth to strengthen his resolve, Spike shoved his demon down as far as possible, and the man in him had been winning. Until tonight.

He had let his jealousy of Peaches get to him. Tonight, he had lost his tight reins on himself. In the entertainment room, he had kept her from seeing his game face, but now, hearing her growl back at him, his control slipped again. Spike knew she briefly saw his eyes blaze yellow, but he could also tell by the way she immediately accepted his kiss and returned it with a hunger of her own; she had dismissed what she saw. And like her, Spike forgot any worries of his demon and the man inside when his lips smashed down on hers. She tasted so good, sunshine with all its heat and light; he felt it flow into him. At that moment, Beth, not his soul, made him feel alive.

Spike molded and rubbed his body against her side, with a leg throw over her own. A hand messaged her breast, rolling, pinching, and pulling her nipple. His mouth quickly slid down to capture her other nipple in his mouth, and he sucked and teased the hard nub with his tongue. Quickly she was writhing and loudly groaning underneath him with one hand pressing his hand down on her breast and the other tightly wrapped around his back. When he bit down and pulled on her hard sensitive nipple, she shivered as she moaned. She felt his hand slide across her warm skin down into the curls between her legs. He rubbed one finger across her clit and through her folds before quickly sliding into her. Spike groaned as his finger met her wetness, recognizing her need for him was just as intense as before. He smiled when Beth whimpered as he pulled his finger out of her.

But her whimpers soon changed to moans again as she felt two fingers slide into her heat and unexpectedly set a rapid pace pumping into her. She pushed against every stroke as the heel of his hand hit against her clit. She whimpered as his mouth left her nipple and his hand stop its movement between her legs, but she watch his body slide down between her legs. She groaned ais mouth immediately attacked her sex, his tongue alternating between sliding in and out of her and mercilessly teasing her clit. She cried out when felt his fingers join his mouth, two of them thrusting inside of her over and over and over, making her arches her back up with the intense pleasure. Her passion, her need was calling for William inside of her, and she cried out as his tongue teased her clit and his fingers thrust into her. With his fingers inside of her and his mouth working her clit, she could feel her orgasm building. Then she felt his teeth lightly bite at her clit and yelped.

Spike froze when heard her yelp, fearing that he had gone too far, but she tasted so good and her inside felt so good that the instinct to bite soared through him again. He hastily looked up to see her reaction; she looked shocked, but her whole body shivered. Then when he heard her whispered, “God, yes,” he chuckled.

Sensations swirled around her like a tornado. His fingers fiercely moving in and out, pressing up against her most sensitive spot inside, his tongue licking and teasing, and when she felt his teeth nipping, sparks shot through her body. She didn’t think she could stand any more, now desperate for release. “Please, please…I need…Ahhh…” She cried out as he sent her over the edge, barely feeling him quickly climbed up her body.

His demon screamed in his head to control her again. The drive to possess this woman was shutting down all of his reasoning again. Spike moved fast, driving into her hard as her inner muscles were still convulsing.

Her eyes rolled up then closed as she suddenly felt him thrust inside of her. His timing, his pounding into her had a bonus because it drew her orgasm longer, immediately sending her towards another. She grabbed the back of his hair so he couldn’t pull away from a kiss. Their tongues battled, and when she finally eased up on her control of his head, he snarled against her lips. Kissing her again, he pulled her hands above her head and shifted so that he could secure them both with one hand. With his free hand, he wrenched her head to the side. Spike paid some attention to the shell of her ear before biting lightly and some not so lightly on the lobe of her ear. With her head still being pulled to the side, Spike began on her neck. Following down one of her muscles, he freely used his teeth, biting, kisses, biting, and more biting. His kisses landed on the unblemished skin that called to him where a vampire’s mark would be but wasn’t. In between his own growls, he could hear her make a low sound every time he bit a particularly good spot. Suddenly, he forced her head to the other side for more of the same. Yet at this point, his control crumbled, and he briefly shifted into game face but got it back under control before. With a snarl, he started kissing and biting into her neck with blunt teeth. When he felt his face shift again, and he couldn’t force it back, he buried his face in her hair, hiding the changes.

Continuing to harshly plunge into her, he growled into her ear, making a simple statement of possession, “Mine.” Without hesitation she whispered her one word reply, “Yours.” The one word was enough to send him into a hard climax, and when she felt his shaft start to swell with his impending release and his frantic movements, Beth went over the edge with him.

As both lay panting, Spike released her hands that he still held over her head. Her arms immediately wrapped around him his back, holding onto him tightly, while placing light kisses across his shoulder. As Beth’s thoughts still spun, Spike started to think through what had just happened, and he was shocked. She had accepted his claim, but the he remembered that Beth didn’t even realize what she had just done. Spike thought back to what Whistler told him, and the fool in Spike latched onto a glimmer of hope. That demon had said that she could remember what she wanted to. So maybe, just maybe at some level, Beth did know what she had said meant and was agreeing to his claim. Now, it was not a formal claim, more of a verbal agreement, but she still accepted. Nevertheless, he had to know.

By this time, he was able to slip back into his normal face. Rolling partially off of her to the side, he pulled up onto his elbow and gently laid a hand on the side of her face, and turned her head so that she looked up into his eyes. With a hoarse voice that he hoped didn’t betrayed his insecurities, he restated his claim, “Mine.” She gave a little smile that shone brightly in her eyes, “All yours.” He kissed her, soft and tender, very different from earlier. Settling more on his side, he slid an arm underneath her, and gathered Beth up tightly in his arm as if to hold her there forever. She snuggled up close, tucking her head under his chin, and wrapped her arm around his waste, holding him just as tightly. To happy to come back down to earth, Spike decided he would go ahead and live in denial, believing that some part of her remembered and understood what she had just agreed to. While he lovingly stroked his hand over her hair and his fingertips lightly across her cheek, Spike ran her verbal acceptance of his claim over and over in his head…

They were both almost asleep, when Beth unexpectedly asked, “What did you think about Xander and Willow?” She wanted him in every aspect of her life, and her friends were a very important part of her.

Spike started to use his nicknames for the two, Red and the whelp, but decided it was a reference that screamed of the past. “I thought Willow was great, and I suppose I can put up with Xander.” He could actually tease about Xander now. “But I don’t want them in bed with us in the morning, luv.”

Beth slapped him on the chest. “No, you know what I mean. I just wanted to make sure you liked my friends because now they have met you, you will probably see them more of them than you might want.”

Spike was floored. What a complete one hundred eighty degree turn from the past, and he wasn’t sure what to say. Even though he would never admit it, he hadn’t wanted to be accepted by the Scoobies. Now, she wanted him to accept them. Still stroking her hair, he paused boring he quietly said a simple but nervous, “Thank you.”

“For what exactly?” When she felt him stiffen, she rolled him onto his back and she wrapper herself onto his side so she see him better. Beth looked into his face and wondered why he was suddenly so uncomfortable? Why he was avoiding eye contact?

“For what you and your friends did to that ponce at the festival last night. Peaches has been a pain my arse for years.” Spike also wanted to thank her introducing him to her friends and earning their acceptance, but he caught himself before he did.

Beth smiled, “No thanks needed. We enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoyed our little rain storm at the end.” Beth put her head back on his should and chewed on her lip. “William, you don’t have to answer, but is that the guy who stole away one of your girlfriends?”

Staring up at the ceiling, Spike thought about Dru for a moment before answering. “No stealing involved really, pet. She always wanted him instead of me anyways. And later she cheated on me with another bloke, also.”

Beth could feel him nonchalantly shrug a shoulder, but what she heard in his voice was pain still inside of him that he obviously didn’t want to admit. He was still holding something back, and she had a hunch. She wasn’t sure he would even answer, so Beth’s question was soft and hesitant, “This may be really off the wall, but its just a feeling. Did this guy have something to do with your third girlfriend …ya know…the one that thought she couldn’t be with you know? The major league stupid one?” Beth noticed that William continued to avoid eye contact.

Spike waited a few longs minutes pass. His unbelievable situation brought his thoughts to a halt. Beth, who used to be Buffy, was asking about Buffy and Peaches. He was sure that hunch came from the Buffy in her, he thought before answering her. “Yes.” He thought for a few more moments trying to decide if he would say anymore or what to say. With a sigh, he gave her the condensed version. “Peaches were with her first but then left her. I think she held everyone else afterwards up to his standard. I didn’t meet her standards.”

Now Beth wished she had done more than spill a drink on this Angel, but part of William’s words made her happy. She climbed on top of him and wiggled around on him until she was comfortable, and lifted her head so she could look him in the eyes. “I’m selfish. I wish I had known when we saw him at the festival that he was the back stabbing louse, so I could thank him for stealing those girlfriends away, leaving you single for when I met you in that mall. One of my favorite days, by the way.”

Beth talking about seeing Angel made him see red all over again. “Don’t even think about going near him.”

Unaware of the storm brewing inside of Spike, playfully she asked, “And if I do?”

Beth was surprised at the swift transformation of his expression. He clenched his jaw, his beautiful blue eyes turned from warm to ice, and his muscles tensed. “Don’t even think about going near that tosser. I…”

Beth put a finger on his lips, “I love it when you’re so possessive, but I was only teasing you.” She kisses him passionately until she felt his muscles start to relax. “You should know by now that you’re the only one I want.”

After hearing her words of affection for him, he wanted to tell her that he loved her. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but fear that those three little words would scare her off or mess up their relationship like the damage the words had caused in his past relationship with Buffy. He had no doubt she cared for him and wanted to be with him. Regardless, she had never mentioned love in her words, but her actions were always warm and affectionate toward him. Not to mention, Beth again proved tonight that she still retained some Buffy in her. In the past, any mention of love, sent Buffy running at her fastest slayer pace, especially if it was him saying those words. With that in mind, Spike refused to declare his love to Beth until she told him that she loved, saving him the heartbreak this time around. No matter how important they were to him, he was enjoying his relationship with Beth too much to ruin it with a few words. So he held her tight, and softly kissed her on the lips until their passion for each other carried them away.

Soon after, they fell asleep, holding each other tight. The last thing Spike remembered doing was stroking her on the neck where his mark should have been.

*****

Early the next afternoon found Beth and Spike lounging on the leather sofa that had provided a perfect, sexual position the night before, watching television. Actually, Spike was twirling a strand of Beth’s hair around one of his fingers as he flipped through the channels while Beth laid length wise on the sofa with her head in his lap. They were waiting for her friends to arrive so she and Willow could do some shopping, which was a mandatory duty for women or that was at least the story they were sticking to. Unfortunately, that left Spike waiting for Xander, who wanted to watch a college football game. That’s right, American football, and for God’s sake, it could have at least been professional. It was a really good thing that Spike loved Beth so much to go through the coming afternoon, but it also helped that she had run out and bought some food to help the afternoon go smoother. She put some potato chips, snack mix, and other various items out on the side tables, and Spike knew that the buffalo wings in the frig waiting to be heated up were just bribes. A well chosen, tasty bribe, but still a bribe. The little minx.

While sulking about the upcoming afternoon, which had necessitated the start his first beer hoping to numb the pain, Spike was absently listening to Beth talk, moving from topic to topic while he tried to find something to watch. Maybe some movie with good looking birds, hopefully in the buff, would catch the boy’s attention and save Spike from the world of college sports.

As he surfed unsuccessfully, a few of Beth’s words caught his attention. He wasn’t sure what she had said exactly, but he did have a feeling he should find out. “What did you say, luv?”

“While you and Xander bond,” she giggled at his growl from her barb, before she continued teasing him, “and we girls shop until serious dropage, I’m going to catch Wills up on our love life, including vivid visuals and maybe props.”

Choking on his beer and nearly spitting it all over them both, he barely got the word out of his mouth, “Wha…What?” Spike blanched even paler than he was already after hearing the words “Xander” and “bond” said together.

Assuming his reaction was from the Xander comment, she laughed up into his wide, shocked eyes. “I knew you weren’t listening, just as I knew that would get your attention.” Buffy gave him a saucy smile. “What I said was that I was going to tell Willow about our love life, and I think I will start with how we made love last night on this sofa, or should I say over the arm of this sofa?” When a knock on the door sounded, she was up in a flash, but she threw one last tease over her shoulder. “Or I could give her a tour of all the places we played naughty last night.” Laughing at the expression on his face, she disappeared out of the room to answer the door.

Spike was stunned again but not for the reason she assumed, which after the Xander comment was telling Willow their intimate secrets. That didn’t bother him in the least. In fact he would love to see Red’s blush at the stories. The stun that felt like a jolt from a taser was her words, or to be more exact, her choice of words. “Love life” and “making love.” Before she always used “sex” to refer to their amazing, intimate times together, but now she had used the word love. Now he felt like they had risen up to a whole different level of their relationship. As a sappy grin slowly grew on his face, he thought he would spend the rest of the day basking in any reference she made to love concerning him, even through his afternoon with Xander.

*****

After a couple of hours of window shopping, oohs and awes at clothes, and numerous, Do you think this will look good on me?” Beth and Willow stopped for a coffee break. When they got comfortable at a table, Willow gave Beth a mischievous smile. “Ok, let’s get into some serious girl talk, and I’ll kick it off. Your way huge smile hasn’t wavered once today. I’m guessing it’s that blonde hottie we left behind with Xander.” She watched Beth blush and nod, silently confirming her assumption. “Great cheek bones, all around gorgeous, good job, good apartment, no ex-wife, at least that we know about, and he so obviously adores you. Do you think I should check to see if he has an ex-wife, or better yet, a brother?”

Buffy smiled at her friend. “No check needed on ex-wife frontage. We already had that discussion of past relationships. But God, I did get lucky, didn’t I? Can you believe he was single when I met him? His ex-girlfriend was sooo stupid enough to let go of him, but I am going to hold on as tight as I can. I just don’t think he has realized that I’m keeping him yet.”

Willow’s head was bouncing up and down in agreement. “Way yes, you got lucky, and way yes, keep a tight hold on him.” She looked into Beth eyes and held her gaze before Willow seriously asked, “And you love him, don’t you? Like in capital letters, LOVE”

“Wills, is it that easy to tell?” Beth looked down at her coffee as she started to blush.

“For me: You. Open book. Easy.” Willow leaned across to pat Beth’s hand. “Even Xander figured it out.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Well, if Xander noticed, it must be written in bold letters across my forehead.” She paused, thinking about what she was going to say next. “Ok, yeah, I love him. Wills, I love him so much.”

Willow watched the dreamy look on her best friend’s face with a bright smile. “And what did he say? He said he loves you, too, right?”

Beth was looking down at her coffee again. “I kinda…sorta…well…I haven’t told him yet.”

Unfortunately, Willow was not overly surprised by Beth’s answer. She thought she knew why but wanted to confirm her suspicions first. “Beth, why not?”

“Scared. Plain and simple. Scared he might laugh. Scared what he might say. Scared what he would do. Scared to scare him away. Scared that he doesn’t want a long term relationship, while I’m thinking along the lines of looong. And scared that I can’t keep him happy with me in the long run. I guess I’m just all around the world scared.”

‘Theory confirmed,’ Willow thought. Her friend had always had trouble talking about her feelings. Willow had no doubt that Beth was scared, but that was only normal. No one knew for sure where a relationship would eventually go, but all these scareds were also a way for Beth to avoid telling William her feelings. “Beth, all you have to do is look at how he watches all of you facial expressions as if each one was precious, and how his eyes always following you or searches when he can’t see you. And he lets you be you without any interference, doesn’t he? Even I, a complete stranger that has only been around him for one evening, can see how much he loves you. Just tell him already.”