Chapter Thirteen

True to his word, Buffy saw no trace of Spike over the next two weeks. She resolutely pushed any thoughts of the blond vampire out of her mind as she worked on getting her things together to go back to school. She continued to put Riley off when he tried to initiate sex, but she was rapidly running out of excuses not to be alone with him.

Fortunately, with Giles returning from England, she could plead time needed for training with her Watcher and bringing him up to date on the summer’s lack of hellmouth activity. She assured Riley that the things she and Giles had to go over wouldn’t interest him at all and promised to spend more time with him when they were all caught up.

If Giles was curious about her sudden willingness to give up her time in the evenings to discuss Slayer things with him, he was able to hide it. Over four years with this slayer had given him some insight and he knew she was struggling with something. When she finally worked up her courage to tell him about Spike’s help, she was astonished that the older man just nodded his head at the news.

“Giles? It‘s Spike. I spent the summer patrolling with Spike. Why aren’t you more wigged out by this?”

“I am not ‘wigged out’, Buffy, because I have been hoping for something like this.”

He was busy polishing his glasses and completely missed Buffy’s shocked look.

“It has occurred to me that the chip would allow Spike to seek redemption for his past if he was so inclined. While Angel is the first vampire to be cursed with a soul, he is not the first one to help a Slayer or to fight evil.”

“Huh?” Buffy’s mouth fell open. “You never told me...”

“I wanted to reread some of the older Watcher’s Diaries to refresh my memory before I said anything. Now that I have done so, I am convinced that Spike’s getting the chip may have been orchestrated by the Powers That Be. He is being given an opportunity to redeem himself. It will be quite interesting to see what he make of it.”

“So, you’re okay with me spending so much time with him this summer?” she asked in disbelief.

“Well, yes, of course I am. I’m delighted that you had someone that powerful to assist you. I am anxious to speak with him as to what caused him to change his mind about helping us in our fight against evil. I don’t suppose you have any idea what it is, do you?”

Frantically Buffy sought for an answer that didn’t involve biting and sex. “Umm, I think maybe he was just bored and looking for some violence.”

Her Watcher seemed slightly disappointed, but shrugged and said, “Well, then, we’ll just have to see how it develops, won’t we? When will you see him again?” he asked, changing the subject slightly.

“Uh, I don’t...I mean with Riley back and...Why don’t you just stop by his crypt some afternoon? He’s usually awake by then.”

“I take it your babbling means that Riley is not as pleased about your having Spike’s assistance as I might be?” her Watcher guessed shrewdly.

“You might say that,” she grimaced. “Spike is...staying away...for awhile. If I need him for something, he’ll help me, but we’re taking a...a break from patrolling together for awhile.”

Giles stared at her flushed face for a minute, then said in a mild tone of voice, “All right, Buffy. I will contact him myself and see what explanation he has for helping you all summer. And perhaps, why he is no longer doing so,” he added, shooting her a suspicious look.

Deciding she’d said all she needed to about Spike for the time being, Buffy hastily told Giles “good-night” and went out to patrol. Things were still very slow around the cemeteries, and Buffy was fairly sure that a certain blond vampire was at least partially responsible for the lack of things to slay. Every once in a while, she was sure she could sense him nearby, but when she would turn to try to find him, the sensation would go away immediately.

Once again, she found only one fledgling to slay and after a cursory stroll around town, she headed home for another night of wishing she wasn’t alone in her bed. She found herself looking forward to getting back into the dorm, where sleeping alone would be a choice, not something imposed by her mother’s sleeping in the next bedroom.

So far, her mother hadn’t brought up the subject of Spike’s clothes in the laundry basket or Buffy’s slip of the tongue the first night she was back. She did look at Buffy curiously when the Slayer started going out on patrol by herself, but wisely decided not to say anything. When Riley showed up at the house to help Buffy move back to the dorm, her mother was careful not to bring up Spike’s name or mention his help during the summer.

Once Buffy and Riley had moved her stuff into her small room in the dorm, she began unpacking and finding places for things. With Willow wanting to room with Tara, and Buffy’s unpleasant experience with her first roommate, not to mention the unusual hours her Slayer duties required, a private room had seemed like a good idea to her and she had a small corner one to herself.

When Riley began dropping strong hints about how they should “break in” the new room, it suddenly didn’t seem like quite such a good plan. She knew the time had come to either admit she didn’t want him anymore or try to pick up their relationship where they’d left off in June. She looked at him thoughtfully and almost giggled at his hopeful smile.

(He really has been very patient and sweet. I should do this. Get back into the swing of things with my real boyfriend.)

Resolutely pushing all thoughts of piercing blue eyes, soft cool lips and a lean muscular body away, she smiled back at him and allowed him to pull her to the newly made bed. Even though he felt too warm to her touch, she forced herself to respond to his eager kisses and whispered endearments. As soon as her clothes were off and he’d dropped his on the floor, he moved to cover her tiny body with his.

While Riley grunted and puffed on top of her, Buffy tried her best to enjoy what she used to find perfectly pleasant love-making. But she couldn’t help making comparisons between the big man working away on her body without, apparently, any idea what he was doing, and the blond vampire who could make her nerve endings sing with just a touch of his cool fingers. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she used her Slayer strength to flip them over so that she was on top of him, looking down into his surprised face.

“What are you doing?” he asked, sounding, almost petulant. She belatedly remembered that he didn’t like being reminded of how strong she was and she ducked her head in apology.

“I’m sorry, Riley. I just thought we could try something a little different...but if you don’t want to...”

“No, it’s fine. Just surprised me, that’s all. You could have just asked me, you know.”

She suppressed a sign and agreed sweetly, “I’ll remember that next time. I promise.”

Buffy began to move up and down on him, squeezing gently as she did so and rubbing her clit on his pubic bone every time she came down. She got a rhythm going and, without realizing what she was doing, began to move on him as vigorously and uninhibitedly as she did on Spike. In no time she was reaching the point where a little attention from him would send her over the edge and she increased her pace, clenching around him as she did.

She was so caught up in her own building orgasm that she didn’t notice that Riley was writhing beneath her and gasping her name. When he grabbed her hips and stopped her motion, it took a few seconds for her to realize what had happened.

“Wha—?” she looked at him through lust-filled eyes, surprised to see him looking less than pleased.

“Buffy, you’re hurting me!” he gritted out through clenched teeth. She could feel his cock deflating inside her as he tried to push her off.

“Oh, Riley! Oh my god. I am so sorry! I never – I didn’t mean to—oh my god!”

Babbling apologies, she quickly moved off him and looked to see if he was permanently damaged.

“I’m sorry, baby. I really am. I don’t know what...I’ve never done that before, have I? You would have told me, wouldn’t you? Oh my god.”

He looked up at her and smiled ruefully. “It’s okay, Buffy. Just shows how much you missed me, I guess. I’ve never seen you that passionate before. I think I might like it – once I recover, that is.”

Blushing furiously, Buffy continued to fuss over him and apologize until he finally stopped her with another kiss.

“It’s all right. I promise. I didn’t realize that Slayer strength extended to every muscle in your body. Now that I know, I can warn you to ease off before you cripple me. We’ll be fine.”

Buffy tried to look pleased that he was taking it so well; although she didn’t care much for the idea of being asked to “ease off”. She asked Riley if she could make it up to him by kissing it better and he readily agreed, settling himself back on the pillows to be serviced. Struggling not to roll her eyes at his smug look, she bent to her task and skillfully brought him to throbbing erectness before he insisted she stop and let him enter her again.

Lying down on her back, Buffy prepared to continue her interrupted orgasm, only to find herself left wanting as Riley quickly got his release and pulled out of her.

“Wow,” he said breathlessly, “I should go away more often if that’s the effect it has on you.”

He kissed her tenderly and pulled her into his arms, completely oblivious to her lack of fulfillment and fully expecting to spend the night sleeping in her bed. Buffy tried her best to enjoy being held and cuddled for the first time in weeks, but nothing felt right.

He felt hot, too warm for comfort. And he took up the whole bed with his large body. Sunnydale U did not provide double beds in their tiny little rooms and the twin bed just was not large enough for two people when one was almost bigger than the bed itself. When she added that to the way her body was complaining about the sexual tension left over from the interrupted orgasm, there was no way Buffy could remain where she was.

She slipped quietly out of the bed, noting briefly that Riley neither noticed nor cared that she wasn’t there anymore. She couldn’t suppress the guilty memory of how, no matter how deeply asleep he was, Spike always reacted to the loss of her warmth and reached for her when she tried to move.

(I guess I shouldn’t be sorry Riley isn’t like that. If he was, I wouldn’t be able to leave.)

As she had that thought, she realized that leaving was exactly what she intended to do. She thought briefly about going to the, hopefully deserted, bathrooms and providing her own release, but discarded that idea in favor of going out and killing something.

She quietly slipped into her clothes and left the soldier snoring in her bed as she went out into the welcoming night.

Chapter 14

Spike was prowling through Sunnydale’s cemeteries, as he’d done every night since he’d left Buffy alone in her room. He’d done his best to keep the claim completely damped down, both so as not to burden her with his emotions, as well as to spare himself any possible feedback from her relationship with the ex-commando. For the first few days, he’d stayed as drunk as possible – using the alcohol to dull his senses and the pain; pain which varied from a steady ache at her absence from his life to a fierce, heart-rending stab when his disobedient imagination insisted on picturing what she might be doing with Riley.

As the first week went on, he’d felt a lessening of the pull between them and knew that he was doing the right thing. If he just stayed away from her, the claim would fade until there was nothing left of it. As painful as he was finding it not seeing her every day, to not be there when she went to sleep or when she awoke, he fought down his demon’s demands and kept out of her orbit. He couldn’t stop himself from shadowing her occasionally, just to see her and know she was all right, but he faded back into the shadows any time it seemed as though she was sensing him and he hoped she didn’t know he was doing it.

His plan was to give it a good three weeks or more before he approached her again, but the surprise visit from her Watcher and his request that Spike continue to help Buffy had thrown the vampire into a whirl of conflicting desires. He disregarded Giles’ probing questions about his motives for working with Buffy, handling any suggestion that he was seeking redemption with a “That’s for the bloody great poof to worry about. I just needed a spot of violence, that’s all.”

On the one hand, he wanted to keep his promise to the Slayer to stay away until they were sure the claim had faded completely. On the other, the fact that her Watcher didn’t object to his helping her was one less obstacle to their continuation of the summer’s activities. He didn’t delude himself that the Watcher would be as welcoming if he knew of or suspected their more private activities, but just to know he didn’t object to the vampire’s help was a relief

For the first time since they’d parted, he allowed himself to actively seek her out, going from one cemetery to another until he heard the unmistakable sounds of a fight.



It was only a little after midnight, and Buffy was hoping that Spike hadn’t had time to get to every cemetery in Sunnydale yet. The need to have a challenging fight and kill something was overwhelming and she vowed she would stake him if he hadn’t left her anything to kill.

(Oooh, this probably comes under the heading of ‘be careful what you wish for’) she thought, just before she waded into the gang of vampires she caught stopping cars and pulling the occupants out. Once the surprised vamps got over their initial shock at being attacked by a small blond woman – and after she’d turned three of them into dust particles – they regrouped and began to surround the small Slayer. They clearly intended to overwhelm her with sheer numbers.

Since she hadn’t quite worked off the tension she’d felt when she left her room, Buffy discarded the idea of running away and centered herself for a good fight. As the snarling vamps closed in on her, she flipped herself into the air and over the heads of the two approaching her from behind. She quickly staked one through the back, while she kicked the other into the closest attacker. She whirled and spun, dusting another one as she crippled two more with well-placed kicks to their knees.

In spite of the built up energy she brought to the fight, as well as her own innate abilities, the sheer number of her opponents was beginning to be a factor and she knew she was tiring. Just as the beginning tendrils of fear began to spread through her body, she saw a flash of bright hair and black leather and the vamp in front of her was flying backwards propelled by a well-placed Doc Martin boot.

Without any conversation, they fell back into the rhythm they knew so well, and Buffy’s strength was renewed as the pleasure of fighting beside Spike gave her another shot of adrenaline. Working together, it took them only a few minutes to reduce the number of foes to a very workable four remaining vampires and Buffy was able to take her time and work out her frustration on the large vampire in front of her. She briefly noted that he was wearing camouflage and wondered if he’d been a commando before he was turned.

As she punched and kicked her opponent, telling herself she was not being more aggressive simply because he reminded her of Riley, she saw that Spike had finished off two of the remaining vampires, allowing the last one to run away while he leaned against a light pole to watch her. He lit a cigarette and basked in the sheer joy of watching her fight.

A loud, “Buffy!” startled all three of them, and she quickly staked her distracted opponent before turning to see Riley running toward her. He stalked right past the Slayer and loomed over the smirking blond vampire exhaling smoke in his face.

“Is this how you ‘watched her back’ all summer?” he demanded, poking the smaller man in the chest. “She fights while you have a cigarette?”

He whirled on a completely bewildered Buffy and asked incredulously, “Is this what you call ‘helping you?’”

Before Spike’s low growl could escalate into something that would give him a major headache, Buffy stepped up to Riley and said tightly, “I didn’t need help at that particular moment, Riley. It was only one vamp and I was winning. Spike knows that. He doesn’t help me if I don’t need it.” (Like you do,) she added mentally.

“Then why is he even here? If you don’t need help with one vampire, then you don’t need him.”

“There were a few more than that when we started, you stupid git,” Spike growled, straightening up and rolling his shoulders.

The big man looked at Buffy for confirmation and when she nodded and said, “He’s right, Riley. I was way outnumbered and getting a little tired when he—“

“What the hell were you even doing out tonight? And by yourself? Why didn’t you wake me up? I would have gone with you.”

Buffy didn’t need the claim to know what Riley’s words were doing to the vampire. She saw the pain flash across his face before he closed it down. Except for the slight twitch she could see in his jaw, you would have thought he was completely bored by the conversation, but she knew he’d correctly interpreted Riley’s words.

They’d yet to be close enough for Spike to really scent her, but now that the excitement of the fight was over and she moved closer, he could smell the man all over her. He could also still smell her arousal, which he attributed to the adrenaline-pumping fight she’d just finished. He was shocked when she glared at her boy friend and muttered, “I didn’t want you with me. I needed to work off some excess energy by myself.”

(Don’t tell me the selfish bastard didn’t get her off before he went to sleep on her!)

He was torn between righteous indignation that Buffy hadn’t been treated the way she should be, and delight that her boy friend was falling down on the job. He remained as still as he could, waiting to see if the Slayer was going to go back with the still fuming man. He had to smother a grin when she waved off Riley’s suggestion that they go back and “work on that energy problem.”

Apparently forgetting Spike’s presence, he tried to pull her into an embrace, whispering that he was completely recovered and ready to “go again”. The vampire was dying to know what he was recovered from, but knew he’d be inviting a stake from one or the other of them if he asked.

Riley’ face darkened when she moved away from him and told him to go on home, that she wasn’t finished patrolling. When he offered to stay and patrol with her, she dismissed the idea with a shrug, saying, “That’s okay, Riley. Now that Spike’s here, he can finish up with me. You go get some sleep.”

Buffy’s back was to them and she missed the thunderous look Riley sent toward the vampire. Spike kept his face impassive as he met the big man’s scowl with eyes of cold, blue ice.

He knew if the larger man charged him there would be little he could do except try to get out of the way, but he refused to let that knowledge show in his face. For a tense few seconds it looked as though Riley was seriously considering attacking the vampire; then his expression changed from rage to one of calculation and he turned away.

He took a deep breath and asked Buffy coolly, “How long do you think you’ll be, baby?”

She blinked at his abrupt change of attitude, but accepted what she though was an olive branch, saying, “Oh, I don’ t know. I’m still pretty jumpy. You should probably go on to your own room, rather than wait for me to get back. I’ll call you in the morning, ‘K?”

“Fine,” he agreed smoothly. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Let’s have a goodnight kiss then,” he added, pulling her to his chest and leaning down.

She pecked him quickly on the lips and backed up before he could turn it into anything more, telling him again, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The two blonds stood in uncomfortable silence for several minutes after Riley had marched off toward the campus, neither one quite sure what to say. Spike wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and kiss the taste of the other man off her lips, but he hesitated, not sure where he stood with her. Clearly she was sleeping with the ex-commando, and for all Spike knew she had decided the whole summer was a mistake.

Buffy was not sure how to read the closed expression on the vampire’s face, so she resisted the urge to get closer to him. She also remembered how sensitive his nose was and knew he would be able to tell she had just been having sex with someone else.

As usual, it was the vampire who couldn’t stand the silence any longer and he finally asked, “So, how’ve you been then, Slayer. All back at school?”

She started walking toward the nearest cemetery, knowing he would fall in beside her.

“Yes, I just moved all my stuff in today.” She sent him a sideways look as she added, “I have a room to myself this year. No roommate.”

“That so, pet?” he said noncommittally. “Didn’t sound that way to me. Seems like you had one tonight. Even if he did leave you with ‘excess energy’.”

When she visibly flinched, he almost regretted saying it, but the solid ball of pain under his breastbone wouldn’t let him.

“That...that wasn’t very nice, Spike,” she said softly.

“Well, yeah. Vampire. Evil.” He smothered the urge to drop to his knees and apologize.

“Guess I forgot there for a minute,” she responded, then was silent again until he asked quietly, “Why WERE you out by yourself so late, pet?”

He sensed rather than saw her flush and she stammered as she tried to answer.

“I...I just couldn’t sleep...and I was...restless...so I just decided to go kill something.”

“Uh, huh,”

“What, uh huh? Don’t you believe me?”

“Oh, I believe you pet. Just wonderin’ how somebody who’d just been shaggin’ her boy friend wouldn’t want to cuddle up and nap, that’s all.”

His tone of voice left no doubt that he knew exactly why she was restless and she responded with a curt, “Go to Hell, Spike.”

“Got that memo, pet. Pretty sure it’s a done deal.”

Buffy stopped and sat on a tombstone, sighing in exasperation.

“I guess I should go back...Everybody’s going to be home tomorrow and we’re meeting at the Magic Box in the morning.”

“Yeah, so I heard.”

She looked up at him with surprise, “You did? From who?”

“Your Watcher paid me a visit the other day, Wants me to be an honorary Scoobie or somethin’. Told him I’d come by but wasn’t makin’ him any promises.”

“I’m glad he came over. I wasn’t sure he was going to. He expected me to ask you...and I really didn’t want to go into why we were staying away from each other,” she said wryly. “It was so cool that he wasn’t wigged by our patrolling together. I really didn’t want to spoil it by telling him that wasn’t all we’d been doing all summer.”

The vampire gave her a small grin. “And my unbeating and unstaked heart thanks you for that, love.”

She grinned back at him and just like that, they were back to the comfortable camaraderie they’d enjoyed before their enforced separation. They strolled through the remaining cemeteries, staking a fledgling and having a good fight with another Faryl demon before Buffy began to yawn and had to admit it was time to go.

“So,” she said as casually as she could with her heart pounding so hard she was sure she could hear it, never mind the vampire. “Do you think the claim is all gone? Are you safe to be around now?”

“I’m never safe to be around, pet,” he growled as he moved closer to her. “And don’t you forget it.”

She just rolled her eyes and reached up to stroke his cheek, causing him to close his eyes and lean into her hand, purring. He stiffened indignantly when she giggled at him, but allowed a small smile to curl his lips as he kissed her warm palm.

A bolt of pure lust shot through the Slayer’s body and she gasped in surprise. “Okay...” she said in a shaky voice, “maybe not.”

The vampire smirked at her and put his hands in his pockets. He did his best to look relaxed and cool, but inside he was fighting to keep his hands from reaching for her.

“Does that mean it’s still there?” she asked in a small voice. “Cause I was really, sort of hoping...”

“It’s gone, love,” he said almost sadly. “I can’t feel you anymore – and I haven’t been hidin’ my feelings from you for several days, so if you have to ask me, that means it’s gone.” He touched her chin and tilted her head to one side. “And if I didn’t know where to look for the marks, I’d never know they were there.”

“Well, good then,” she said dubiously. “So you can come to the Scoobie meeting tomorrow without me having to worry about somebody staking you?”

“Guess so. At least not for anything I’ve done to you. You never know about the whelp – he always wants to stake me.”

Buffy laughed with him and shook her head. “With Giles all on this ‘Spike’s gonna be redeemed’ kick, l don’t think Xander will get much support there.”

“So,” she looked at the ground and shuffled her feet nervously.

“Yeah,” he agreed, resolutely keeping his hands in his pockets.

(I’m NOT gonna touch her when she reeks of that pillock’s spendin’s. She could beg me and I wouldn’t touch her.)

“I’m just gonna head back to the dorm, now.” She peered at him from under her eyebrows. “You could...I mean, if you want to...”

“You askin’ me to walk you home, pet?” he asked coolly.

Her pride kicked in and she tossed her head haughtily, “No, of course not. I can walk myself home. I just thought you might want to know—“

“Cause that’s all I’d be doin’, Slayer,” he said flatly. “I’ll walk you back, because I haven’t seen you for so long and I want to spend some time with you. But that’s it. Don’t be thinkin’ I’m going be makin’ up for soldier boy’s shortcomin’s. Not tonight.”

Anger flared in her eyes as she glared at him. “I never asked you to, you arrogant pig! I just thought you might want to know which room I was in. Obviously, I was wrong. I won’t make the same mistake again.”

With a final toss of her hair, she turned and began marching off as fast as her Slayer feet could carry her with dignity. Embarrassed tears were threatening to leak from her eyes as she realized that she actually HAD been thinking that Spike might be willing to finish what Riley started.

(Oh my god. What kind of slut does that make me? Two men in one night? And treating one who loves me like he was my own personal vibrator to use whenever I need it?)

She groaned softly and slowed down as she realized Spike wasn’t making any attempt to follow her. Refusing to look back to see if he was watching her walk away, she continued toward the campus, her head hanging down as she continued to scold herself for her behavior.

As she approached the dorm, she thought she felt Spike and turned around to look for him. She had just established where she thought he was and was starting to walk toward that spot, when the feeling vanished as quickly as it had come. She turned back around, shrugging away her disappointment, only to see Riley just emerging from the shadows near the door.

“Riley? I thought you went home. What are you doing here? And why were you in the bushes?”

“I was just waiting for you to come back, Buffy,” he lied smoothly. “I thought I heard something in the shadows and went to check it out.”

“Why were you waiting for me?”

“Because I want to spend some time with my girl friend who I haven’t seen all summer. Is that a problem, Buffy?”

She sighed heavily, “No, of course not. It’s just...it’s late and I was really looking forward to getting some sleep tonight. We have a Scoobie meeting in the morning and—“

“No problem. I’ll just make sure you’re awake early and I’ll go with you to the meeting.” As he spoke, he took her arm and smiled at her warmly, steering her toward the door to the dorm.

Buffy looked around anxiously before they went in the building, not sure if she’d felt something out there or not. Riley waited patiently, holding the door open while she looked around the quad.

“Is there something out there, honey? A vampire maybe?”

She shot him a suspicious look, but Riley’s face was the picture of innocence and concern.

(Way to be paranoid, Buffy. It probably wasn’t Spike; and even if it was, there’s no reason for Riley to think so.)

Casting one last look over her shoulder, she moved reluctantly toward the open door, mumbling, “Might have been, I couldn’t be sure. And I’m too tired to go hunting now. I’ll just have to hope everybody stays in the dorms till morning.”

The morning’s news shows had the same lead story. Vandals had gone through several of Sunnydale’s cemeteries, destroying granite tombstones, monuments and statues. The authorities were sure it was a gang high on PCP as there was no way a normal human could have moved some of the objects that had been thrown around.

In a crypt in one of the cemeteries, a good-looking blond vampire was passed out on top of a sarcophagus, both hands torn and bleeding onto the dirty floor.

Chapter Fifteen

After an unrestful and unsatisfying night, during which she faked an orgasm for the first time in her life, Buffy was tired and cranky when the alarm went off. Riley had been determined to see that they were going to “make up for lost time” and insisted on having sex again in her narrow bed. When they seemed to be going nowhere with it, Buffy pretended an orgasm, just to make Riley get off and let her go to sleep.

She leapt out of bed quickly before he could unintentionally try for another round of “let’s show Buffy how much better this is with Spike”. She grabbed her robe and some clothes and went to the bathroom down the hall to shower and get dressed.

While the hot water was running over her body, she tried to analyze what had gone wrong with them. When Riley left Sunnydale for the summer, she was sure she was falling in love with the ex commando. He was, she and her friends thought, perfect for her. While he was nowhere near as strong as either Buffy or Spike, he was, thanks to his enhancements, stronger and quicker than most men. He knew about vampires and demons and was more than willing to help fight them. He seemed to genuinely love her, and was very sweet and considerate.

If anything, he was too considerate and caring. If she was honest with herself, she could admit that even before he went away she was feeling a little smothered by his constant attention and neediness. While he said he accepted her calling, and admired her for it, at the same time he couldn’t seem to shake the idea that it was his job to protect her and he frequently got in her way when she was slaying.

She knew instinctively that the sheer joy she and Spike shared in a good fight was not part of Riley’s make-up. His purpose was to eliminate an enemy as efficiently and quickly as possible and with a minimum amount of physical contact. He was always willing to spar with her, but it was not more satisfying than the night’s sex. He was unwilling to go all out, apparently laboring under the impression that he might hurt her. As a result, she had to hold herself back so much that she thought she might as well be sparing with Xander.

She sighed heavily as she got out and toweled herself dry.

“Why can’t he be more like Spike?” she grumbled quietly to herself as she put her clothes on. “Just like Spike, only human, and not-evil, and...argh!”

After a quick breakfast in the school cafeteria; one at which Riley chatted casually as though the last two months had never happened, they walked to the Magic Box for the Scoobie meeting.

“Buffster! Riley!” Xander greeted them enthusiastically, folding Buffy in a big hug while he shook Riley’s hand. “Great to see you, guys. Together. Not that you wouldn’t be...together...cause that’s how you are...together. Right?”

The big man gave Xander a puzzled stare as he answered with, “Well, yeah, Xander. Is there some reason you thought we wouldn’t be?”

Before the brunette could open his mouth to reply, Anya shrugged and said, “I guess he wondered if you would still be together after Buffy spent the whole summer with Spike.”

Her boyfriend elbowed her hard and shook his head with a sheepish grin.

“Boy, Anya, I don’t know where you get your ideas, but that one was a lulu!”

He tried to glare her into silence, but she snapped back, “What? You’re the one who said Buffy has a thing for vampires and you were worried about her spending all summer palling around with one that had--.”

She glared at him indignantly when he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the back of the store. He shot a “heh, heh, just kidding,” at Buffy and Riley as he retreated from them.

The Slayer’s face was beet red and she avoided meeting Riley’s eyes, although she could almost feel the anger rolling off his body as he ground out, “You spent all summer with him?”

“Patrolling!” she squeaked. “He helped me patrol, and...”

Just then the subject of the conversation burst through the door, a smoking blanket covering his head.

The smile that started to light up his face when he saw Buffy, faded when Riley stepped forward and got between the petite slayer and the vampire.

“What the hell are YOU doing here?” he demanded. “This is a meeting for Buffy and her friends.”

Only Buffy noticed the slight flinch when Riley emphasized “friends”; Riley only saw the cocky smirk that Spike put on as he answered, “I’m here by special invitation of her Watcher, soldier boy.” He put a small amount of stress on “boy” and smiled quietly to himself.

(Bloody hell, I’m channeling my inner Angelus, today.)

Riley stiffened at the reminder that the bleached punk in front of him was actually a master vampire who had been around in one state or another for over 150 years. Putting his arm around Buffy possessively, he stared back at the smirking vampire and growled, “I think he’ll find there isn’t much need for your help, now that I’m back in Sunnydale.”

He was so busy preening at his statement that he missed Buffy’s eye roll and the vampire’s subsequent grin.

“We’ll see, won’t we,” Spike replied with deceptive mildness. Inside, his demon was screaming to be let out so he could rip both arms off the man who was touching his property. One look at the way Buffy was shaking off Riley’s proprietary grip and he was grateful for the chip.

(Not one to be owned by anybody, my Slayer. Bloody stupid git’s gonna find that out the hard way.)

Riley’s hurt complaint when Buffy threw his arm off her shoulder was interrupted by the arrival of Giles with Willow and Tara. While the girls greeted each other with hugs and squeals, the Watcher looked back and forth between the two tense men in the room and mentally rolled his eyes like a teenager.

Tara’s shy smile of hello, and Willow’s cheery “Hi Spike, hi, Riley” broke some of the tension and the vampire went over to the counter and hopped up to sit on it. Xander and Anya had come from the back of the shop when they heard the girls come in and the whole Scoobie gang was soon seated around the table.

While Spike watched from his perch on the counter, Riley shifted his feet uncomfortably as he realized all the seats were taken. He settled on leaning against the wall behind Buffy’s chair where he could be close to her and still glare at the relaxed looking vampire.

Buffy was quick to assure her friends that they hadn’t missed anything by being gone most of the summer. “You know how it is in summer, guys. Evil kinda goes on vacation too.”

“So, there was nothing slay-worth?” Willow asked curiously.

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” her blond friend chirped back before her brain could reach her mouth.

“We?”

Giles cleared his throat and jumped in to rescue his panic-stricken Slayer.

“Yes, it would appear that Spike has been quite useful to Buffy for the last few months; assisting her with her patrolling and slaying duties as well as keeping her from going, if I am using the term correctly, ‘wiggy’ from boredom.”

“Way to go, slightly-less-evil-undead,” Xander snarked. “Buffy and boredom – always a bad combination.”

“Tell me about it,” the vampire muttered with a laugh as he ducked the wadded up paper the Slayer threw at him.

Riley’s face darkened as he watched the relaxed by-play between his girl friend and the vampire. Giles was also observing their interaction with a slight frown, but his curiosity about the vampire’s change in behavior allowed him to push down any disquieting thoughts about his Slayer and another vampire.

“If the two people in question would settle down,” he harumphed, “I would like to discuss the possible ramifications of the summer’s activities.”

He missed the quick exchange of looks between Buffy and Spike, but neither Riley nor Willow missed the heated glances. Willow exchanged a knowing look with Tara and shook her head slightly. Tara gave her a reassuring smile and gestured briefly toward Spike’s head to indicate she had seen his aura and wasn’t worried.

Spike narrowed his eyes at the two witches and asked suspiciously, “What are you two conjuring up now?”

Willow just looked at him intently, but Tara smiled warmly and blushed as she said, “We were just wondering how much activity there actually was.” She ducked her head, embarrassed by her own comments and Willow leaped to her rescue with, “Yes, with the hellmouth being all quiet and evil being all asleep, and stuff like that. We were just wondering what you guys had to do every night.”

Spike smothered a laugh as Buffy spit doughnut crumbs out on the table. Willow helpfully pounded her on the back as the small blond gasped and choked.

“A very good question,” came the cold voice from behind Buffy’s chair. The venom in Riley’s voice sucked all the humor out of the room and there was silence until Giles broke it.

“And one to which we might eventually get an answer if we can all stay on topic.”

He glared around the room and eventually everyone was looking at him attentively. Everyone except Riley, who was still staring coldly at the vampire.

“As I have intimated to Buffy already,” he began pedantically, “the old Watcher’s Diaries indicate that it is not unheard of for a vampire to assist a slayer, or even some other human, in the fight against their own kind.”

He waited for that to sink in, ignoring Spike’s “Bloody Hell!”

“It is, of course, extremely rare, and has not been documented for several hundred years. However, just as Spike made common cause with Buffy two years ago to save the world from Angelus’ plans, it is not uncommon for a vampire to initiate a temporary truce with a Slayer or the Council in order to dispose of a common enemy.

“So, although Angel is the only vampire that we are aware of to be cursed with a soul,” He paused for Spike’s obligatory, “Bloody poof” and continued, “it is certainly within the realm of the Council’s experience for one to assist in the fight against evil.

“It is my suspicion that the Powers That Be may have arranged for Spike to be chipped in order to push him more quickly in the direction of helping Buffy that he began during the time of Angelus. They may have chosen him to be her...umm...”

There was silence for several seconds, and then a burst of chatter as everyone tried to talk at once.

“You sayin’ the bloody Powers That Can’t Let Well Enough Alone are responsible for my chip?”

“Spike? The bleached wonder has been Chosen? Merciful Zeus!”

“I’ve certainly known it to happen. Although there’s always some sort of relationship between the slayer and the vampire. Usually something se—mmph!” Anya’s contribution was cut off by Xander’s hand.

Riley’s calm, cold voice intruded on the general babble.

“The Powers That Be, whatever they are, have chosen Spike to be Buffy’s what, Giles? What exactly are you saying?”

“Well, to be her, for want of a better term, right hand man, I suppose. Another warrior to fight at her side. An equal.”

While Riley snorted in disgust, Buffy said quietly, “Spike fights on my left.”

“Leave it to the bleached wonder not to know what a right hand man’s job is,” Xander snarked.

“This is all speculation,” Riley stated emphatically. “More supernatural mumbo jumbo. It has nothing to do with Buffy.”

Everyone in the room stared at the confident man with their mouths open.

“It has everything to do with Buffy, you stupid git.” Spike spoke for all of them. “She IS Heaven’s Chosen One. D’you think she’s that strong because she takes a lot of vitamins?” he scoffed at the disbelieving young man.

“Buffy,” her boy friend appealed to her, “You don’t seriously believe any of this crap do you? Spike is chipped because he walked into our nets; and the only reason he isn’t dust is because he was able to escape and you people,” he gestured around the room, “you people, who think you are standing against evil, decided to hide him from us.

“He isn’t your equal. He doesn’t even deserve to walk the same earth. He’s just a temporarily harmless animal that you for some reason want to keep around as a pet.”

Buffy’s heart ached when she saw the look on Spike’s face and realized how much of what Riley said had resonated with the vampire. In spite of his quick recovery, and the cocky grin he sent toward the bigger man, she knew that his innate inferiority complex was absorbing the harsh words and believing them.

While Tara moved quickly to put a gentle hand on the vampire’s arm, surprising him with her kindness, Giles turned on the outsider in the room and said with just a trace of Ripper, “You are a very stupid man, Riley.”

“Yeah, well, at least I’m in touch with the real world. I know a vicious animal when I see one, and I know what to do about it.” With a last venomous look at the vampire he whirled and stalked toward the door. Without looking back, he said, “Are you coming, Buffy?”

“I don’t think so,” she answered slowly. She was trying to reconcile the sweet man she thought she knew with the one stomping out of the shop after saying such hurtful things to her friends and her watcher.

“Fine,” he threw over his shoulder. “When you decide to face the facts about all the supernatural garbage your watcher has been feeding you, you will know where to find me.”

There was silence again for several minutes. Even Anya seemed to be at a loss for words. Finally, Xander spoke up and offered cheerily, “Well, that went well, don’t you think?”

Chapter Sixteen

Riley’s angry exit left everyone stunned and puzzled.

“Buffy, does he know nothing about what a Slayer is?” her watcher inquired, somewhat testily. “What have you told him about your calling?”

She looked down at the table and frowned guiltily.

“I tried, Giles. Really, I did. But he just didn’t get it. He’s all into ‘science that’ and ‘technology that’ and he was always looking for some ‘logical’ explanation for everything. And you know me, not so much with the metaphysical stuff...I didn’t really explain things well enough, I guess.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Xander began hesitantly, “but I think Captain Peroxide better start watching his back. I don’t think Riley’s real happy about knowing his girl friend is gonna be spending a lot of time in dark, lonely places with the evil undead...and somebody hit me to remove that visual, please!” he groaned.

“Your concern is touchin’, whelp; but I think I can take care of m’self,” Spike growled.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I do believe Xander may have a point, Spike. Riley is well-versed in the methods of removing vampires and you are not really able protect yourself as well as you could at one time.”

As Giles finished speaking, he noticed a look of true fear on Buffy’s face when she realized what he was implying. Moving toward the vampire, she grabbed his arm and began pulling him toward the basement.

“Let’s go, Spike,” she ordered. “We can get to your crypt through the sewers from here, can’t we?”

“Yeah, but why would we—“

“We’re going to get your stuff. You can’t stay there until I’m sure Riley is going to leave you alone.”

“So, what, you’re going to babysit me? I don’t think so,” he snorted indignantly, yanking his arm away. “Master vampire, here, pet. I don’t hide behind a woman’s skirt – even it is a mini-skirt worn by a slayer,” he finished with a leer.

“You’re going to be staying with my mom. She DOESN’T wear mini skirts, but she does swing a mean axe, as you might recall.”

Giles tried to suppress a memory of Joyce helping him bring out the Ripper after ingesting band candy. He distinctly remembered a mini skirt and his mind wandered briefly. When he came out of his self-induced fog, Buffy and Spike were already on their way down stairs. He could hear their voices floating back up, arguing in a joking fashion about the vampire’s need for protection.

While Spike’s demon pride was outraged that the Scoobies thought he needed help taking care of himself, his inner William was warmed knowing Buffy was worried about him. That she cared enough to want to keep him safe more than made up for the high handed way she’d decided where and how to do it.

Spike spent most of the walk laughing at Buffy’s attempts to keep her new shoes out of the filth and water trickling along the middle of the big pipe. He decided she looked adorable with her nose wrinkled up in disgust. When he commented on it, she replied testily, “I’d think somebody with a super smeller wouldn’t want to be anywhere near this disgusting stuff.”

“Vampire,pet. Don’t need to breathe, remember?”

“Oh yeah. So you are. Silly me.”

Without warning, she leaped onto his back and said, “So, you can slosh through this stuff with your boots that are older than I am, and I’ll hold my nose.”

Spike pretended to grumble and complain about her weight and her “thinkin’ she was a bloody princess”, but to have her touching him again, her arms around his neck and her breasts pressed into his back, had him grinning from ear to ear. He reached around and grasped her ass cheeks to help hold her up, wishing she had jumped on him from the front.

Buffy buried her offended nose in the skin on the back of his neck, inhaling the scent of leather, tobacco, whiskey and Spike instead of the smell of sewer gas.

“Mmmmm, much better,” she breathed, nuzzling the back of his neck.

“So I smell better than sewer gas, pet? Not quite sure how to take that.”

“You smell better than lots of things,” she said softly and fastened her lips on his cool skin briefly.

The vampire had no reply to that, he just lengthened his strides to get where they were going faster.

When he emerged from the tunnel that connected his bedroom to the sewers, he slowed and began backing toward the bed. As soon as he felt his knees touch the edge of the mattress, he let go of her legs and unwrapped her hands from around his neck, dropping her onto it. He turned around to find her sitting propped up on her arms, her legs sprawled out, looking up at him expectantly.

“So what’s this about, then, love? You really don’t strike me as the kind of woman who goes from one man’s bed to another’s all in the same day.” He looked down and shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “In spite of anything I might have said last night,” he added.

Buffy shook her head and looked away from his inquisitive eyes. “I...I’m sorry about last night.”

“No, pet,” he said, kneeling down and cupping her chin. “I’m sorry. I never should have talked to you like that. I was out of line.”

“No,” she said softly. “No, you weren’t. I WAS thinking you might...” She glanced away and then forced herself to look into his eyes. “I’m sorry. It was selfish of me, and gross and disgusting and—“

Her self-flagellation was interrupted by soft, cool lips that fastened themselves on hers and a cool tongue that gently traced her lower lip until she opened her mouth and her sweet breath sighed into his. She put her arms around his neck and fell back on the bed, pulling him with her. They gave matching moans when her warmth was once again pressed against his cool, lean body.

The world went away as Buffy fell into Spike’s bone-melting kisses. Once again, it was just the two of them. On their own - no Watcher, no judgmental friends, no jealous boyfriend to worry about.

“I missed you, love. Missed you so much,” he murmured as he ran his mouth down her neck and flicked his tongue over the invisible bite marks. “Missed feelin’ you, touchin’ you. Missed bein’ with you.”

He stopped his frantic murmuring and tasting to raise his head and look into her soft green eyes.

“I’ll never bite you again, love. Not if it means I have to stay away from you like that again. Know the demon was wrong to claim you. Know you’ll never be mine. Jus’ tell me you’ll let me be around you. Let me be part of your life. Jus’ let me have my crumbs, Buffy. “

“You ARE part of my life, you stupid vampire. I missed you more when the claim was gone than I did before.”

He blinked at her in complete amazement.

“You what?”

She flushed and lowered her eyes briefly, then resolutely brought them back up to meet his awed gaze.

“When...when I couldn’t feel you any more. It was like part of me was missing. I didn’t know where you were or if you were okay”

He continued to look at her with complete attention, one eyebrow raised as she fumbled on.

“Okay, I’m not saying I missed the ‘when you hurt, I hurt’ stuff. Cause, on the whole? Got enough pain in my own life, thank you very much.” She shifted underneath him, bringing out an involuntary groan as he pressed his whole length against her again.

“But, I missed not knowing where you were; that you were close by. I missed not being able to feel how much you....” her voice trailed off in embarrassment and he smiled down at her, stroking her cheek tenderly.

“Being able to feel how much I love you?” he asked softly.

Buffy nodded her head and closed her eyes against the emotion she could see in his.

“I missed that,” she whispered against his cheek. “I really missed that.”

“It’s not gone, love,” he whispered back, trailing kisses from her ear to her mouth. “It’s still here. It will always be here. You might not always feel it, but don’t every doubt it. S’not goin’ anywhere.”

“Show me.”

The vampire growled and began pulling her shirt over her head, “With pleasure, pet. Get those damn clothes off and I’ll show you...”

Buffy giggled and squirmed under him, trying to reach his belt buckle while he fumbled with the fastening of her pants. He paused in his frantic pursuit of Buffy nakedness to pull one rosy nipple into his mouth and begin sucking on it, making the Slayer arch up off the bed into him. He ran his tongue over one breast, then the other, nipping gently at the hard little tips until they were both bright red peaks of hard flesh.

He sat up briefly to pull his own shirt off and throw it across the room, then went back to opening her pants and pulling them down her legs. While he was at the bottom of the bed, he stood up and quickly shed his own jeans. He got back on the bed on his hands and knees and crawled up her body, planting feather-light kisses as he went. When he reached the end of her long, tanned legs, he let his fangs come down and used them to slice through the scrap of lace that covered her neatly trimmed curls.

He carefully retracted his fangs before lowered his face and inhaling the scent he’d been missing for weeks. With a sigh, he put his face against her and nuzzled his way into her folds, growling softly. He heard Buffy catch her breath with a gasp when his tongue shot out to gently touch her clit and her hips jerked up.

He smiled against her and put one hand on her lower stomach to hold her still.

“Uh, uh, pet. I’ve been missing this too much. Gonna take my time and you’re just gonna have to live with it.”

“That’s just evil...” she gritted out.

“Vampire, love.” He ran his tongue from her entrance all the way up to her swollen clit which he then flicked with his tongue until she was almost growling at him. When she started hissing, “Spiiiiiike” he relented and pulled the needy nub into his mouth. As he sucked on it and gently rubbed it with his blunt teeth, she moaned and then began the whimpers that told him she was almost there. Just as she grabbed his hair and arched up into his mouth, he let his fangs slip out and nicked her clit just enough to release a few drops of blood.

Another gasp and jerk of her body told him the bite was just enough to give her another orgasm and he smiled in satisfaction at having made his love come twice before he even entered her. Buffy pulled on his hair until he looked up at her and grinned.

“Sorry, love, jus’ bein’ greedy.”

“Come up here and be greedy for awhile,” she purred, continuing to tug on his unruly curls.

He crawled the rest of the way up her body, pausing to plant wet, open-mouthed kisses here and there. He stopped when the head of his throbbing cock was just brushing her opening and she looked into his intense eyes as she said, “Come in, vampire.”

With a groan, he slid into her welcoming moist heat and was enveloped by everything Buffy. She wrapped her legs around his and pulled his head to her neck as they started rocking together slowly.

It wasn’t long before he was thrusting harder and faster as he felt her beginning to clench around him and she moved her feet up to cross behind his back, pulling him in even deeper.

“Love you, Buffy. Love you so much,” he chanted over and over as he drove into her. With every thrust, the slayer’s hips rose to meet his and she breathed in rhythm with his chanted “love you’s” so that she almost seemed to be echoing him.

When he felt her internal muscles trembling as they tightened around him, he shifted into vamp face and roared his pleasure as he exploded inside her. He fought his demon to a standstill as it struggled to renew the now-dormant claim. Throwing himself off Buffy with a growl, he tore himself away from her warm arms and fell onto the bed beside her, shaking with need.

“Spike? Wha...what’s the...Did I do something wrong?”

The hurt and insecurity in her voice as she turned toward him was enough to banish the demon instantly. He silently cursed Riley’s name for putting that insecurity back into the voice of the woman he’d spent the summer coaxing into reveling in her sexuality. As he rolled over to face her worried frown, the ridges faded and the fangs receded into his gums. He took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing her open palm and inhaling her scent.

“I’m sorry, love. Nothing’s wrong. It’s just been so long, and you feel so amazing...I was havin’ trouble controllin’ the demon, is all. Didn’t want to bite you and start the whole soddin’ mess over again. Never want to be away from you that long, ever again.”

“Oh, “K, then,” she sighed with relief and snuggled into his reaching arms. “I thought maybe I hurt you or something...” she mumbled as an afterthought.

(Is that what happened the other night? She hurt the bloody wanker? Oh,that’s just too delicious.)

“Tell you a little secret about vampires, pet,” he said nuzzling her neck, “we like a little pain with our passion. Hurtin’ me is not something you ever need to worry your pretty little head about, love. You do whatever makes you feel good and let me worry about if it’s hurtin’ me.”

“Really?” she said with what sounded suspiciously like eagerness. She blushed and hid her head. “I mean, not that I would ever WANT to hurt you, because that would just be...weird, and perverted and—“

“And delicious fun if it’s done right,” the delighted vampire purred into her ear.

She peered up at him from under her hair, but saw nothing on his face but love and lust. There was no sign of rejection or revulsion and she sighed in relief.

“You don’t think I’m too rough, or--?”

Again, the vampire mentally cursed the unimaginative human that had the good fortune to share her bed and didn’t know what he had.

“Buffy, love, how long were we together this summer?”

“Um...I don’t know. Couple of months...every night?”

“Do you remember all the things we did together? The things I did to you – the things you did to me?” At her timid nod, he continued, warming to his subject, “Did any of those things feel weird or perverted? Did you ever hear me complain about what you wanted to do? Did I ever make you do anything you didn’t want to do?”

“Well, there was that time you wanted to...on top of the statue in front of the courthouse...” she ventured.

“I was drunk. Doesn’t count. And you know that’s not what I mean, anyway, don’t you?”

She nodded her head, “yes” and relaxed back into his side. The vampire gently stroked her silky hair and whispered into her shell-like ear, “There is nothing wrong with anything two people do together as long as they both want to do it, and as long as it’s done with love and respect. Don’t ever be afraid to try something you want to with me. If you’re not sure, ask; just as I would ask you before I did anything I thought you might not like.”

“Says the man who ravished me in a public parking lot,” she said wryly.

“Hey!” he said indignantly, “you liked that!”

When she didn’t respond, he tilted her face up toward his and asked warily, “Didn’t you?”

“Of course, I did, you big baby. Don’t be so insecure,” she gave him a nudge and he relaxed, pulling her closer.

“Says the woman who worried I didn’t like the way she was shagging me,” he snarked back at her.

They rested in comfortable silence for several minutes, his arms around her and her fingers trailing abstract designs on his smooth chest. When her hand strayed down toward the nest of sandy colored curls at the bottom of his abdomen, he growled softly and his cock immediately stirred to life.

“I have an idea,” Buffy said softly.

“So do I,” he responded, pulling her on to his body so that she was stretched out along his length. He put his hands on the round globes of her ass and pulled her up so that he could put his cock between her thighs.

“That wasn’t my idea,” she said with a giggle.

“It wasn’t?” He couldn’t keep the disappointment from his voice. “Well that’s—mmmph.” He was cut off by warm, soft lips fastening on his and there was no conversation for several minutes while their tongues explored and tasted, stroking each other to moans and sighs.

When Buffy had to break for air, she took a minute to get her wind back, then said shyly, “If I asked you to do something, would you promise not to get all weird on me?”

His brows met in a puzzled frown.

“We just had this conversation, love. You can ask me anything. You know that.”

He tipped her chin up to make her meet his confused eyes.

“What could you possibly think I would get ‘weird’ about?”

“I want you to bite me,” she said so softly he wasn’t sure he heard her correctly. “I want you to claim me again.”

“Bloody, buggering, fuck!”

“See! I knew you’d be all wigged out.” Her lower lip came out in a pout.

“I am not ‘wigged out’. I just don’t know what’s wrong with you!”

“You think something’s wrong with me?”

(Shit. I have got to be the biggest wanker in the world) he thought when he heard the fear in her voice.

Buffy was struggling against his arms, trying to get off him and away before he could see the tears starting in her eyes.

(I’m such a loser, even a vampire doesn’t want me.)

“No, no, baby. Stop it. Buffy, stop!” he clutched her arms so hard he knew he was leaving bruises, although the chip didn’t fire.

“Let me go! I’m sorry I said anything. I thought you wanted to... Let me go, Spike!”

He flipped them over on the bed, the better to use his weight to hold her still.

“Listen to me, love, please, Buffy. Let me explain.”

She stopped struggling, but her lower lip was quivering and the tears that had welled up in her eyes were glistening as she forced herself to look into his anguished face.

When she quit trying to throw him off, he relaxed his hold on her arms and breathed out in relief. Fixing his pleading eyes on hers, he willed her to believe what he had to say.

“I’m sorry, love. Thought I was better than that at handlin’ surprises, but I guess not.”

He blew out another unnecessary breath and tried to collect his thoughts so that he didn’t say something else to upset her.

“I just don’t think you understand what you’re askin’ for, love. When you ask me to claim you, you’re basically acceptin’ the claim. That’s a whole different kettle of fish from what we had a few weeks ago.

“I just spent the worst three weeks of my life trying to stay far enough away from you to erase that little bit of a claim because I thought it was hurtin’ you. And now you’re telling me you want me to do it again? How the hell did you think I was gonna react?”

“I thought it would make you happy,” she sniffled softly.

“If I thought you knew what you were askin’ for, it would make me –well, happy wouldn’t begin to describe it. But I’m not sure you do. A mutual claim, or even an accepted claim,” he hastily added as he realized she hadn’t said anything about claiming him, “is a very major commitment. It’s forever, Buffy. There’s no makin’ it go away by staying apart for awhile. We could be on different continents for fifty years and we’d still have that connection. We’d still be able to feel each other, no matter where we were.

“You’d be my mate for life, love. I don’t think you really want that, Slayer.”

His deliberate use of her title was a like cold shower on her heart and she sighed and closed her eyes.

“I’m not sure that I don’t want exactly that, Spike. Exactly how long do you think my life’s going to be? Aren’t you the one who told me all slayers come with an expiration date? What if my date is next Tuesday? And I could have spent the week feeling...feeling loved and safe...and—“

Spike’s growled, “Not gonna happen. Not next Tuesday. Not a thousand Tuesdays from now. I’ll be dust before I let anything happen to you. You’re gonna be the longest lived Slayer ever.”

His eyes blazed with the intensity of his emotion as he fought off the image of life without Buffy. Suddenly her request didn’t seem so bazaar as he realized how much better he could protect her if he had that connection between them.

“Your friends and your Watcher are gonna go apeshit, love. You know that, right?”

“They wouldn’t have to know right away, would they? If you bite me somewhere...”she blushed hotly, “somewhere less visible. They wouldn’t have to know about it until they were ready to hear it.”

“And the toy soldier?” he asked flatly.

Her hand came up to stroke his cheek as she said with complete honesty, “I think that’s pretty much a no-go. Buffy and normal? Not so mixey. Tried it, didn’t like it.” She smiled up at him. “Seems like I need a little monster in my man.”

She opened her legs and he slipped between them, his cock already pushing at her damp warmth. Buffy wrapped both arms around his back and bought her legs up to wrap around his waist, effectively trapping him within her supernaturally strong limbs.

“And right now,” she added in a whisper, “I need a little of my man in Buffy.”

“How about all of your man, love?” he groaned as he filled her until he couldn’t go any deeper.

“That works, too.”

They rocked together for a while, then Buffy flexed and flipped them over. Rather than react with angry surprise as Riley had, Spike grinned up at her and said, “Baby wants to play, huh?”

Putting her hands on his shoulders, she moved her hips up and down, almost coming off his cock each time, then slamming back down onto him. By keeping her head down, she could watch herself rising and falling over him over and over, her speed increasing as the pressure increased within her. When Spike grabbed her hips and began pulling her into the position that let him hit her clit with every stroke, she sat back up and arched her back, moaning her pleasure to the ceiling.

When the moans turned to the whimpering gasps that meant she was about to come, the vampire suddenly pulled her off his cock and toward his face. Before she could complain about the loss of contact, he had sunk his fangs into her femoral artery and was pulling long, strong draughts of her blood into his mouth. As he did, he worked her already sensitive clit with his fingers until she spasmed against his face and screamed his name.

He released her hips and licked his marks as he whispered, “Mine.”

“Yours,” she whispered back as she slid down his body to rest against his chest.

Chapter Seventeen

When the sun was sinking below the western horizon, Buffy helped Spike put his extra clothes and some books into boxes to carry to her mother’s house. He insisted she was not driving his “baby”, and over her objections went to retrieve his car from it’s parking place behind the caretaker’s house.

She breathed a sigh of relief when he roared up to the door and threw it open with a flourish.

“Okay, show-off. Let’s get this stuff loaded,” she grumbled. “I want to get to Mom’s in time for dinner.”

When the car was loaded, they carefully covered the entrance to the lower part of the crypt so that, hopefully, any unwanted visitors would not know there was another level full of things worth stealing. Leaving the crypt looking as though Spike had just gone out for the evening, they got in the car and drove to Revello Drive.

“Leave your stuff in the car until I explain everything,” Buffy instructed as they pulled into the driveway. “We’ll bring it in after Mom says you can stay.”

Still grumbling about being babied, Spike followed his mate into her mother’s house.

Joyce was surprised, but delighted to see them and immediately insisted they stay for dinner. Buffy, who hadn’t eaten since that morning in the school cafeteria, smiled triumphantly at Spike and agreed enthusiastically.

“I, uh, I don’t think I have any blood, Spike,” Joyce said apologetically. “But the roast beef is very rare.”

“Roast beef is fine, Joyce. I’ll get some blood later.”

When dinner was over, and they were sitting quietly at the table, Joyce looked at the two supernatural blonds in front of her and asked firmly, “So, what’s this all about?”

“I can’t come by my mother’s house for dinner without an ulterior motive?” Buffy did her best to look offended while Spike rolled his eyes.

“Buffy, you only moved back into the dorm yesterday. And I haven’t seen Spike since right after I came home – I haven’t even seen any of his dirty laundry,” she said, shooting a teasing look at the embarrassed vampire. “Now, here you both are, having dinner with me as though you do this every week.”

“Told you your mom wasn’t stupid, love,” Spike said, smiling at Joyce.

“Okay, mom. Here’s the sitch. Riley is kinda...bent out of shape...over Spike and me spending so much time together this summer, and then Giles said some stuff about Spike being all chosen to help me by the Powers That Be and being my warrior or something, and Riley got really mad and said it was all mumbo jumbo, and he stomped out and I’m afraid he’s gonna hurt Spike.”

She stopped to gasp for breath and looked at her mother to see how much of what she’d said how actually been understandable. Joyce looked from her daughter to the vampire she’d come to like so much and asked mildly, “And does Riley have any reason to be upset about this summer?”

Buffy looked at Spike with her deer-in-the-headlights stare and began to breathe rapidly.

“Easy there, pet,” he soothed. “You’re going to hyperventilate.”

‘Buffy?” her mother prodded, although the look on her daughter’s face confirmed what she’d suspected since her surprise early arrival home.

Spike looked at Buffy with an inscrutable expression as he waited to hear what she as going to tell her mother about them. He could feel her nervousness and excitement, but decided not to send any emotions back until he heard her answer.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Buffy stood up and walked over to stand behind Spike, resting her hands lightly on his shoulders.

“I suppose he does, in the whole I-didn’t-tell-him-I-was-seeing-somebody-else kinda way. But I thought we, Spike and I, were just friends having a little summer fling.” She felt the vampire’s shoulders tense and could feel the anger he was feeling. Giving his shoulders a little squeeze and at the same time trying to send him reassuring thoughts, she looked her mother in the eye and continued, “But it looks like it’s not...not just a fling. We’re together now and Riley—“

“Soldier boy wants to put a piece of pointy wood through my unbeatin’ heart,” Spike growled for her. “And with this soddin’ chip, I can’t really do much to defend myself against humans.”

Joyce studied the two anxious young people in front of her and realized with a start that they were more or less asking for her blessing. Since Buffy had never bothered to even let her mother know when she started dating anyone else, Joyce was taken back at what that indicated about the seriousness of the relationship. She made a quick decision and stood up abruptly.

“Well, if Spike’s going to stay here, we’ll have to set up the cot in the basement. That way I won’t have to worry about him spontaneously combusting while I’m gone if he falls asleep watching Passions in front of the picture window.”

Buffy jumped out from behind Spike and hugged her mother.

“Thank you, Mom,” she whispered. “I love you.”

Smiling to herself, Joyce went to get clean linens from the closet. While she was doing that, Spike and Buffy got his things out of the car and carried them to the basement. By the time Joyce got there with the clean sheets, they had set up the cot and arranged Spike’s books on a make-shift shelf. They put his duffle bags of clothes on the floor at the foot of the bed.

She handed the clean sheets to her daughter and said, “Buffy, please make up the bed. Spike, I’d like to talk to you upstairs, please.”

The vampire followed the Slayer’s mother up the stairs, feeling more like a twelve year old than his actual 150 plus years of existence. When they reached the kitchen, Joyce gestured to him to sit on a stool as she faced him with her hands on her hips.

“Do you think you could be a little more specific with me than just, ‘it’s more than a summer fling?’ What exactly is between you and my daughter?”

“Not my place to tell you what she’s feelin’. But I can tell you I love her more than my unlife. I’ll never hurt her, and I’m gonna do my bloody best to see that nothin’ else does either.”

Joyce nodded her head and sighed heavily, “I guess my illusions about her having a normal life and giving me grandchildren to play with are just that – illusions.”

“I can’t give you grandchildren, Joyce,” he said softly, “and the Slayer’s life was never gonna be normal. But I’ll do my best to give her as close to it as I can. That’s all I can promise you. That, and I’ll never leave her,” he added.

Just then Buffy appeared at the top of the stairs looking suspiciously from her mother to the vampire.

“Is everything okay up here?”

“Everything’s fine, love. We just need to get my car moved to somewhere else and do a quick patrol while you mum gets to bed.”

Joyce reached into a drawer and pulled out a key on a ribbon. She handed it to Spike with a casual, “I’ll probably be asleep when you come in. This works on both the back and front door.”

The vampire stared in awe at the small piece of metal in his hand.

“Thank you, Joyce,” he said softly as they exchanged a look that said much more than their words.

After moving Spike’s old Desoto to a rented garage, Spike and Buffy did a quick patrol of the cemeteries before heading back to her dorm. He walked her up to her room, making a note of where it was and what was below the windows.

“I don’t want you walking back to my house by yourself,” she pouted, bringing his attention onto her lips. He nipped at the plump lower one that she was sticking out and said, “I’ll be alright, love. And if anything happens, you’ll know as soon as I do.”

“That’s right! I forgot. I”ll know that you’re okay...or not.”

He put on a mock angry face. “We get mated for life, and you ‘forgot’ already? Guess that honeymoon’s over, huh, pet?” he teased.

“Honeymoons are for married people, Spike. They follow weddings, with flowers and...flowers and cake, and...stuff. Not—“

He cocked his head at her and asked seriously, “You know, to a vampire, this is a marriage. You did understand that part of it, didn’t you, Buffy?” He looked at her anxiously, wondering if she was having second thoughts about the claiming.

She nodded her head and moved into his arms, holding up her face for a good-night kiss.

“I know. I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just tired and cranky. Sleepy Buffy isn’t a very nice person sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” he raised his eyebrow and laughed when she thumped him on the chest.

“Alright, love. You go get some sleep and I’ll go back to hide in your mum’s basement. Good night, sweetheart.”

“Nite, Spike. Be careful.”

“Got a lot to be careful for now, pet. Don’t worry.”

With another long lingering kiss, he slipped out the door and out of the dorm.

Buffy watch him crossing the quad until she couldn’t see him anymore, then turned away and got undressed for bed. She turned off the light and tried to sleep, but worry over Spike kept her tossing and turning until she felt him sending her reassurance and comfort. Smiling at the knowledge that he was now safely ensconced in her mother’s basement, she tried to project her contentment back to him as she closed her eyes and slept.