Chapter Five

A short, tense ride later and she and Dawn were following a nurse into the room where her mother was propped up in bed, looking very worried.

“Mom?” Buffy’s body was rigid as she waited for her mother to tell her everything was fine. Instead, Joyce sighed and gestured for her daughters to come closer. With Dawn on one side and Buffy on the other, she put her arms around her two most precious possessions and hugged them tightly.

“It looks like I’m going to need a....procedure...tomorrow.” When she felt Buffy’s body stiffen, she quickly tried to soft-pedal the situation. “There’s a small tumor on one side of my brain and that is what has been causing the headaches. They’re going to take it out tomorrow, sew me back up, and I’ll be back on my feet in no time.”

“Is....is it...?” Dawn couldn’t finish the question that was hanging over all their heads.

“We won’t know until it’s out, Dawnie,” her mother said as she tried to comfort her youngest daughter. “They’ll biopsy it right away and they tell me they’ll have an answer for us within a few hours.”

Buffy felt the adrenaline flooding her body and the urge to kill something was almost overwhelming. She fought down the totally inappropriate response she was having to the situation, and tried to concentrate on what her mother was saying.

She nodded her head as her mother gave instructions for running the household for the next several days, and gave a start of surprise when the older woman asked, “Is Spike here?”

“No, Mom. It’s 10:00 in the morning. I’m sure he’s sound asleep in his crypt by now.”

“Oh,” her mother sounded vaguely disappointed. “Well, you’ll just have to talk to him tonight then, “ she said firmly.

“Uh, okay. Why?”

“I need to see him about the gallery. He knows all about the shipments coming in this week and I was hoping he could unpack them one evening and get them out on the floor for me. I’d ask you to do it, but you won’t know what to do with them, and you’ll be busy patrolling, and with school and Riley.....”

“I’ll ask him,” Buffy said shortly. “Between the two of us, we’ll get it done. Don’t worry about it.”

She wasn’t sure if she was more surprised that her mother intended to rely on Spike, or that she obviously didn’t feel she could rely on her own daughter. Not for the first time, she was reminded of how much her calling interfered with her relationships and her life.

(Even my mother knows I can’t have a normal life. She doesn’t even expect it of me anymore. I wonder why I do?)

Leaving Dawn to keep her mother company, she walked out into the waiting room to find it full of Scoobies all anxious to know what was going on. She filled them in as best she could, relaxing a little as their obvious concern and sympathy helped to boost her spirits.

The doctor came out and asked which one was Ms Summers. Buffy responded quickly, anxiously barraging him with questions. The attractive young doctor smiled at the pretty blond and offered to explain what was going on over a cup of coffee. He introduced himself as the resident assigned to her mom’s ward and asked her to call him Ben.

When Buffy came back from her lengthy coffee-cum-explanation time with Ben, she was surprised to find Riley waiting with Giles. He immediately got up and swept her into a warm hug as he murmured a combined apology and offer of support.

He insisted on spending the rest of the day with her at the hospital, and offered to come with her on patrol that evening. She tried to discourage him from that as she knew she was going to have to find Spike to pass on her mother’s instructions. However, in spite of the fact that his hovering was beginning to make her feel smothered, she was too embarrassed at having spent so much time with Spike recently to reject her anxious boyfriend.

She did mange to convince him that she would be better off patrolling on her own and having the opportunity to work out some of her fears in a physical way. After watching her wade into a large group of fledgling vampires and throw them all over the graveyard before she staked them all, he swallowed his pride and went to wait in his SUV. There was something about the glee on her face as she punched and kicked her way through the crowd that made him slightly uncomfortable.

It wasn’t the first time he’d come face to face with the fact that Buffy didn’t need his help to do her job; but it was one of the more emphatic lessons.

As Buffy got further into the cemetery, she felt the tingle on her neck that meant Spike was somewhere close by. Sure enough, when she paused to look around, he stepped out of the shadows, hands in the pocket of his duster and a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

“Slayer,” he said pleasantly enough, but without the undercurrent of affection she was used to. “A little hard on those poor fledglings, weren’t you, pet? I thought you were gonna kill them all twice for a while there.”

She smiled at him tentatively and said, “I had some issues to work out.”

“Feel better now, then?”

“Oh, much. Or as much as I can anyway,” she finished, her shoulders slumping as she remembered her mother.

“She’ll be fine, love,” he said firmly, once more seeming to read her mind. “They’ll get it out and that’ll be it. Say, do’ya suppose I could slip in there and get m’chip out at the same time?”

“Don’t joke about that, Spike.” She snapped, then sighed and touched his face gently in apology. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m wound a little tight tonight. How did you know about the...tumor?”

“I stopped off to see your mum. She told me all about it and also about the gallery shipment. I’ll go by there tomorrow evening and see what’s what.”

“Oh. Thank you, Spike. I can’t tell you how—“

“No need. Got to take care of my girls, don’t I?” His soft look and shy smile suddenly vanished and in their place was the cold, immobile face of a corpse. The only thing alive about it was the flashing in the amber colored eyes as Riley strode into the clearing.

“Buffy,” he called, not having seen the vampire. “You’ve done enough for one night. Let’s get home and go to bed. You’ll need to be up early tomorrow to be there before your mother goes in for her surgery.”

Buffy whirled back around just in time to see an expression of complete agony go across the vampire’s face. She remembered what he’d said about multiplying her reaction to Lydia by a hundred and cringed at Riley’s words. Before she could say anything, he vanished as quickly and completely as only a master vampire could.

She looked around carefully, but she could tell he was no longer there. The feeling she got when either Spike or Angel was nearby was completely gone. Biting her lip, she turned and walked back to the car with Riley.


All the way back to the house of Revello Drive, all she could do was think about Spike and his reaction to Riley. Between worrying about her mother, and worrying about Spike’s state of mind, she could barely follow what Riley was saying about being there for her and leaning on him whenever she needed to.

When she realized he was beginning to plan the rest of the week for her, including her taking time off from slaying, and his moving in to the house until her mother came home, she held up a hand and stopped him.

“Riley, I appreciate all this thought. I really do. But let me figure out where and when I need you, OK? I think Giles has the paperwork all covered; Willow and Tara will be helping me with Dawn; Mom has already made arrangements for coverage at the Gallery; and of course, Xander and Anya are there if I need anything else.”

(OK, I think I got through that all right. Managed to not mention Spike and still made it clear that he’s not making the decisions here.)

The big man’s face was still for a minute, then he said bitterly, “So, what you’re saying is you don’t really need me for anything. Is that right, Buffy?”

Buffy looked at his closed, hurt face in dismay. “No, no, I didn’t mean that at all. I just meant that we...that I...was already handling most of those things and you don’t have to worry about them.”

She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to think of how she could avoid hurting this man who so obviously loved her. She put a tentative hand on his arm and said softly, “I do need you, Riley. It’s just that I need you to ask me what I need- not make that decision for me. Can you understand that?”

He sighed and touched her hand where it rested on his arm. “I’m trying to, Buffy. But where I come from, a girl like you would expect her man to step in and...”

Buffy withdrew her hand slowly so he wouldn’t think she was angry, and answered before he could finish, “Riley, where you come from there ARE no girls like me.”

There was nothing to say to that, and they drove in silence the rest of the way to her house.

They entered the well-lit house to find Willow and Tara waiting with Dawn. The two witches were anxious to return to the dorm, and wished everyone a good night as soon as Buffy came in. Dawn looked at Riley curiously and turned to Buffy to ask, “Where’s—ow!“

A sharp look from Buffy, accompanied by a quick pinch, prevented the awkwardness that she knew would follow any inquiry about Spike. Fortunately Dawn picked up on the silent message very quickly and she nodded her head at her sister before turning to go upstairs.

“I’m going to bed now. Wake me up when you’re out of the bathroom in the morning, Buffy. G’night, Riley.”

“Good night, Dawn. See you in the morning.”

Dawn shot her sister a startled look, but wisely made no comment as she went on up the stairs and into her room.

Chapter Six


“Are you staying?” she asked with little inflection in her voice. She struggled to sound as though she wanted him to stay, but the best she could do was to keep the impatience out of her voice.

Riley watched Buffy as she walked around the house, turning off lights, checking doors and clearly preparing to go to bed for the night. When she had run out of things to do before going upstairs, Buffy stopped in front of him and took a deep breath.

“Do you want me to?” he asked. “I want to be here for you, Buffy. Whatever you need.”

Remembering how peacefully she had slept last night with Spike holding her, Buffy ducked her head and said, “I could use some company while I sleep. Somebody to just hold me?”

As soon as she saw his look of happy anticipation, she regretted asking him to stay.

(Great. Now he thinks I want to have sex. How do I handle this without making him feel rejected all over again?)

Taking the bull by the horns, she looked him in the eye and said clearly, “I just need to get some sleep, Riley. That’s all I want tonight. I’m too worried about my mom to-“

Trying to hide his disappointment, he put his arms around her and assured her that he was fine with that. Buffy tried to smother the urge to compare his smothering hug with Spike’s comforting embrace, as she forcefully reminded herself that this man was her boy friend. The blond vampire, she insisted to herself, was just another Scoobie. A good friend, perhaps, but...

When she slipped into bed, Buffy was once again wearing her flannel pjs and she saw Riley shoot her a disappointed look as he stripped to his boxers and slipped into bed beside her. When he put his arms around her and she snuggled up to his warm body, she almost thought it was going to be okay. She knew he loved her, and she could feel his desire to comfort her as he cuddled her small body and kissed her forehead.

It wasn’t long though, before he was running his hands over her back and pulling her up against his body so that she could feel his erection pressing against her leg. She opted first for trying to pretend she was asleep, but quickly realized that wasn’t going to work as he became even bolder in an attempt to “wake” her up.

Buffy was torn about what she wanted to do. On the one hand, this man was her boy friend. She did care about him and it had been a while since they had made love. On the other hand, she had specifically asked him to let her sleep and he was disregarding that request pretty vigorously. And somewhere in the back of her mind was a baritone voice saying, “think about how it made you feel and multiply that...”

While she was mulling over her options, Riley took her lack of rejection as acquiescence and began to pull her pajama top off over her head, ignoring the buttons. He ran his hands over her breasts quickly, then went to her pj bottoms and began to slide them down her hips.

“Buffy,” he whispered. “Please, Buffy. It’s been a long time. Just let me...”

“Riley, I asked you to let me sleep. I really don’t want to....”

“I can make you want to,” he said as he pulled her against him again. “You know I can.”

(Actually,) she thought to herself, (you can’t. You’re just pissing me off.)

Struggling not to say aloud what she was thinking, Buffy pushed against his chest, using just enough of her Slayer strength to make her point.

“Riley. I really only wanted an all-night hug. Can’t you do that?”

“No, I can’t do that. What do you think I am? I can’t lie here next to you, touching you, and not want to.... I’m just a man, Buffy.”

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh, “I guess you are at that.”

(I guess it takes a demon to have that kind of self-control. A soulless, impulsive, obsessive demon.)

When he tried to pull her back to him again, thinking that her agreement about his gender meant she was going to let him have his way, she surprised herself by almost snarling at him as she shoved him away and turned her back. She thumped her pillow once or twice, mostly to relieve her frustration at having nothing else to punch, and then resolutely closed her eyes.

“Good night, Riley,” she ground out between gritted teeth. “If this is too hard for you, feel free to go down to the couch.”

Riley was quiet for a minute or two, then jumped to his feet and picked up his clothes from the floor. “You can be a real bitch, Buffy. Did you know that?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve it heard it before,” she said, trying not to smile as she remembered who most often used that term around her.

The big man stomped out of the room and down the stairs. He sat on the couch in the dark for a while, then stood up and determinedly went out the door and got in his car. Across the street, a dark figure stepped out of the shadows and frowned as he watched the soldier drive away.

Spike looked back and forth between the house and the rapidly disappearing car, then made up his mind and whirled to follow the man who had just left Buffy alone in her bed. Delight that the two humans hadn’t made love warred with his anger that the man who claimed to love her would leave rather than comfort her without getting something in return.

(Wonder if he’s gone to get his rocks off somewhere else? He’s not likely to find much down here in the warehouse district except....bloody hell! He just went into the vamp whorehouse!)

Spike strode into the building, confident in his ability to take out any of the wimpy vampires who got their blood by drinking from willing humans. No one challenged him as he walked through the warehouse with long, businesslike strides and he soon found the room where he watched surreptitiously as Riley gave money to a thin, angular female vampire. When she had tucked the money away, she undid the soldier’s pants and pulled up her skirt. The sight of her elongating fangs was all it took to get the man hard, and he was soon pounding into her, groaning as she sank her teeth into his arm and began taking long pulls of his blood.

In spite of the disgust he felt, Spike did not interrupt the two oblivious creatures coupling inside the small room. He whirled and left the building with no idea where he was going, only knowing that he needed to be moving and he needed to kill something.

“Soddin’ bloody wanker! Leaves the Slayer on the night before her mum is going have a serious operation and goes to a vamp whore.” The vampire kept of a litany of British invective as he roved through Sunnydale’s cemeteries looking for something on which he could take out his anger.

He considered going back to Revello Drive, but he didn’t want to take a chance that Buffy would catch him watching her house when she thought her boy friend was there. He’d fought the urge to follow them for more than an hour after hearing Riley talk about taking her home and going to bed. He tried to get so drunk that he would pass out and forget what he heard, but ran out of JD long before he reached the passing out point, and long after he was sober enough to make good decisions.

The result was he’d found himself standing under the tree in Buffy’s yard, listening to sounds of them getting ready for bed. His vampire hearing allowed him to hear her tell Riley all she wanted was an all-night hug, and his gratitude that he wasn’t going to hear them make love was tempered by the pain of knowing she wanted comfort from her human boy friend rather than him.

When he heard Riley’s heart rate increase, and realized the man was growing aroused, he almost couldn’t restrain himself from leaping onto the roof and into the room. His eyes flashed yellow and he cringed inwardly in anticipation of hearing the sounds of Buffy making love with the man in her bed. He was so wrapped up in the misery he was anticipating, that he almost missed her reaction and subsequent suggestion that Riley sleep on the couch. Years of being able to read her moods meant he could tell from her increased breathing and heart rate exactly how brassed off she was at Riley’s attempts to seduce her. Spike had snarled scornfully when he heard Riley insist he could make her want him.

Relief and joy had flooded his body when he heard the other man tromp down the stairs, cursing to himself. He’d pulled back into the shadows across the street just fast enough to avoid being seen when the angry man exited the house.

Now that he knew where Riley had been going, he was left with the question of what to do with the information. It hadn’t appeared that the man was unfamiliar with the whorehouse. He drove right to it and was already in a room with a vamp when Spike got there. That told Spike that this was not the first time Riley had been there.

His stomach clenched a little at the thought of Dawn or Joyce, or even Buffy, being endangered by the former commando. While most vamps that working in places like that were not willing to give up their meal tickets by killing or turning them, it was always a possibility.

His inner debate was interrupted by the arrival of a group of fledgling vamps looking to make a name for themselves by taking out the vampire who killed his own kind. The joy on Spike’s face as he realized he had something on which to take out his fear and anger should have alarmed the other vampires, Unfortunately for them, it didn’t.

With a swirl of black leather, he took out the two closest to him without even slowing down. The broken necks he gave them didn’t dust them, but they were completely unable to continue the fight. His momentum carried him into the next two in the group, and he was able to get off several good punches and a roundhouse to a jaw before they realized that it was going to take all of them working together to handle the master vampire.

Spike’s strength, speed and joy in the fight allowed him to hold his own against the six vampires left trying to kill him, but numbers were not on his side and he knew he was one sucker punch away from being in real trouble. Just as he was debating the wisdom of running away, the vampire in front of him disappeared in a puff of dust and he saw a blond vision smiling at him through the dust.

“Can I play, Spike? Or are you keeping all the fun for yourself?” she asked with her perkiest smile.

“I can spare a few, Slayer. Which ones do you want?”

The verbal by-play wasn’t lost on the remaining five young vampires and they looked back and forth between the two blonds as realization set in.

“Hey, our mistake. No harm, no foul, right?” the oldest one said, edging away from the stake-twirling Slayer. “We’ll just be on our—“

He was cut off by the swoosh of a stake though the air and looked down at his chest in dismay just before he exploded. Before the others could react, Buffy was on them and she made short work of the two she tackled as Spike went to work on the other two. When he had broken their necks and thrown the bodies down with the first two, he sat on a tombstone and watched in admiration while Buffy played with the last one standing.

As she punched and kicked the unfortunate vamp around the clearing, Spike strolled over to pick up her stake and used it to dust the four he had left on the ground. As he finished, he saw that Buffy’s punching bag of choice was incapable of getting up again and he tossed her the stake with a, “Here, pet. Put him out of his misery.”

Soon there was nothing left but a lot of dust piles and two very satisfied blond predators.

“Well, that felt good,’ Buffy said, letting out a sharp breath. “I had some tension to work off.”

To Spike’s surprise, he was able to keep a grip on his tongue and avoid any innuendos about why she was tense. The last thing he wanted to do was to remind her that she could have shagged away the tension with her boyfriend. Instead he rolled his shoulders to loosen them up and agreed, “Yeah, had some frustrations myself.”

That said, they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence as they both tried to pretend that Buffy shouldn’t be home in bed with her boyfriend rather than standing around in a graveyard with another vampire.

While Spike mentally battled conflicting urges to tell her about Riley’s activities or not tell her to avoid adding to the things she was dealing with, Buffy surprised him by saying softly, “He left me.”

The vampire didn’t pretend not to know who she was talking about, just looked at her out of the corner of his eye and said, “That right, pet?”

“Yes. He just called me a bitch because all I wanted was to be held, like...like you did last night. I didn’t think that was too much to ask from somebody who’s supposed to love me.”

She didn’t notice Spike’s wince at her last remark, she just felt his arms go around her gently as he whispered in her ear, “It’s not too much to ask, love. Never should be. Bloody pillock is too stupid to appreciate what he has if you ask me.”

“Didn’t ask you,” she mumbled into his chest as she relaxed into his arms and let the feelings of safety and comfort wash over her.

(I wonder what kind of Slayer feels safe and warm standing in a cemetery at night with a master vampire’s arms around her?)

“True, but you know me, gonna give you my opinion whether you want it or not.” She could hear the smile in his voice and snorted in an unladylike fashion as she looked up at him.

They smiled into each other’s eyes for a minute until Spike could feel himself responding to the warm body he was still holding lightly. He moved back slightly so that Buffy would not feel the evidence of his desire against her stomach.

(Last thing I want to do right now is make her think I can’t control myself around her either. She needs know she can lean on me without my wantin’ something in return.)

In spite of his having pulled his body back from hers, Buffy could tell from the way his eyes darkened that he was reacting to her nearness the way he always did. Anger at Riley fueled the ever-present attraction she felt toward the blond vampire, and Buffy unconsciously licked her lips as she stared at his openly needy face
.
“Ah, Slayer. Don’t do that to me, love. You know I want to kiss you so bad I—“

He was cut off as she suddenly stood on her toes and pressed her mouth to his firmly. His arms instinctively tightened around her, pulling her willing body against his as he deepened the kiss. Once again, Buffy’s world narrowed to the soft, supple lips moving over hers and the cool tongue exploring her mouth. Her arms crept around his neck and she allowed him to support her as she let her body melt into his lean muscular one.

She felt her underwear growing damp and Spike’s smothered growl as he smelled her arousal. Rather than finding the growl intimidating, she was surprised to find herself even more turned on as it vibrated against her body.

(Ooookay. I know that one’s not in the Slayer handbook. Growling vampire should not equal lusty Buffy. Something must be very wrong with me...)

After several minutes of bone melting kisses, Buffy pulled back slightly to get her breath and try to get a grip on her libido. Spike continued to hold her lightly around the waist, but allowed her to decide how close they would get and if the kissing would continue. His demon was screaming to be let out and allowed to take this woman and it took all his self-control to keep his face smooth and his expression hopefully expectant.

“I...I need to get home. I left Dawn there by herself,” she said in a shaky voice.

“Right, then. You should go.” He reluctantly slipped his hands off her waist and shoved them into his pockets. Every muscle in his body was trembling with the effort it took to let go of her strong little body. “D’you want me to walk you home?” he asked softly.

“What I want is...” she stopped herself before she could say anything she couldn’t take back and stood up straighter. “No, thank you. I don’t think that’s a very good idea. Just in case Riley gets over his fit of temper and decides to come back...”

“You wouldn’t let him in if he did, would you, pet?” He surprised both of them with the urgency in his voice.

Buffy looked at him curiously and asked, “Well, probably, if I thought he was going to leave me alone. Why?” She peered at him intently; something about his look reminded her of the conversations about the booby trap in his crypt. “Do you know something I should know?” she demanded sharply.

“I hope not, love,” he answered cryptically, deciding he wasn’t going to tell her about the soldier’s vamp whore until he had talked to her Watcher.

She stared at him for a minute, tapping her foot in irritation, all lust banished by the knowledge that once again he knew something she didn’t and that he wasn’t planning to tell her what it was.

“So help me, Spike. If you’re hiding something from me again....”

“Jus’ go home and try to get some kip, Slayer. You don’t want your mum to think you’ve been up all night worrying, do you?”

The way her lower lip poked out told him she was only postponing, not abandoning, the conversation she wanted to have; but she opted let it go for the time being. Breathing an unnecessary sigh of relief, he leaned forward and kissed her on the top of her head as he said, “Good night, Slayer. I’ll see you tomorrow sometime.” He gave her a little push in the direction of her house and turned to go to his crypt before the sun came up.

Buffy stared after him with her brow furrowed, then whirled and stomped off in the direction of Revello Drive muttering to herself about, “secrets, sneaky, lying vampires...”

Chapter Seven

Buffy and Dawn were up and at the hospital by 8:00 AM the following morning. Early enough to see their mother and give her kisses and hugs before she went off for her surgery. They then went to the waiting room and stared blankly at the television as they waited for the doctor to come and tell them how it went.

By 9:30, all the Scoobies were there, as well as Giles and a very subdued and repentant Riley. Buffy easily avoided his attempt to kiss her mouth, but did allow him to hug her and whisper an apology in her ear. She shrugged and managed to appear mollified without actually saying that she forgave him.

By 11:00, Buffy and Dawn were beginning to cast anxious eyes toward the doors to the operating area and Buffy was pacing from one side of the waiting room to the other. When the young doctor they’d met the other night appeared and gestured to Buffy, she ran to him, her eyes pleading for good news even as she held herself rigid and tried to appear calm for Dawn’s sake.

“She’s going to be fine,” he told her with a smile. “We got it all and there is no sign of cancer. It was a benign tumor and now that it’s removed, she should be up and about within a few weeks.”

Buffy let out the breath she hadn’t even been aware of holding, and clasped his hand tightly.

“Thank you, Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much this means to me...us. We’re-“ Realizing she was one more incoherent sentence from complete babbling, Buffy took a deep breath and gave him a dazzling smile as she repeated. “We both thank you. When can we see her?”

“You’ll have to wait a while for that. She’s in the recovery room and she’ll be sedated for the rest of the day, just to keep the brain activity down. You can see her again tonight, but she probably won’t be able to talk to you until tomorrow sometime.”

After making sure he had any and all possible phone numbers to use if he needed to reach her, Buffy went back over to her anxious sister and curious friends to announce with a watery smile, “She’s going to be fine. Mom is going to be fine.”

She hugged Dawn, and then felt them being surrounded as Xander and Willow and more slowly, Tara and Anya, put their arms around the two grateful sisters. Giles cleared his throat several times, wiped his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose before finally saying, “Oh, what the hell...” and putting his arms around the whole group.

No one noticed as Ben’s face took on a panicked expression and he mumbled, “No, no, not now!” as he ran back through the door to the locker area.

When the thankful group hug had finally ended, they began to split up, agreeing to meet there again in the evening just in case Joyce was awake by then. As Riley went to shake the watcher’s hand “goodbye” his sleeve slipped up and he saw Giles’ eyes go to the newest marks on his arm. The watcher’s eyes narrowed as Buffy saw the marks also and said, “Oh my god, Riley! Did a vamp get you last night? Why didn’t you come and tell me? I would have—“

“It’s no problem, Buffy,” he said uncomfortably. “I, uh, I took care of it myself. No big deal. It’s not like she took a lot of blo-“

“She?” Giles asked in a mild tone of voice. “It was a female vamp, then was it?”

Completely missing the by-play, Buffy continued to fuss over the ex-commando, asking how many there were and if he was injured anywhere else. When she ignored his efforts to resist and pulled up his other sleeve, she gasped at the marks inside that elbow also.

“Boy,” she said with an attempt at humor, “I thought I was the only open-all-night vamp bar in this town.”

“Comes with the territory,” her boy friend said shortly as he pulled his sleeves down and fastened them. “No big deal.”

He dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head and hastily left the room, promising to check back with her later to see how her mother was doing.

Giles stared after him thoughtfully, but chose not to say anything to Buffy about his suspicions just then. He did mention as casually as he could to the other Scoobies that they probably should keep their doors locked and be careful who they invited in for awhile. He hoped he managed to make his point without actually coming out and saying that he wanted them to be careful of Riley.




Once Dawn was safely at school, Buffy decided to head for the Magic Box and do some training. They hadn’t seen Glory for awhile and she was worried that she wouldn’t be ready if and when she appeared again.

She was surprised to find Giles deeply involved in a conversation with Spike. The conversation stopped abruptly when she walked in and the vampire walked over to her to ask, “How’s your mum, love? The Watcher says they got the nasty thing all out?”

She smiled at him warmly and nodded. “Yeah, Ben—uh—Dr. Lewis, says she’ll be fine after a couple of weeks’ rest. Guess you’ll be taking care of her now,” she teased.

“No problem, pet,” he said seriously. “Whatever she needs. I’ll run by the gallery tonight and take care of the stuff that came in. Tell her not to worry.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the bell over the door, and Buffy watched as Spike melted back into the shadows in the back of the store. She turned to see Riley come in and looked at him in surprise.

“What are you doing here? I thought you had to work today and wouldn’t be around until tonight.”

“I, uh, took the day off. Thought maybe I’d come help you get back in shape. For fighting vampires and things,” he added unnecessarily.

The way her Watcher was looking at him was making him uncomfortable, and he pulled Buffy into the training room and away from the man’s speculative gaze.

While Buffy and Riley indulged in some half-hearted sparring, Giles went to the back of the store where the vampire was hiding.

“Are you absolutely sure, Spike?” Giles demanded, continuing their previously interrupted conversation.

“Know what I saw, Watcher. Weren’t the first time either, I’ll wager.”

“How could the man be so stupid!” the watcher blew out an exasperated breath. “As though Buffy didn’t have enough on her plate as it is.”

“My thinkin’ exactly,” the vampire said smugly.

Giles shot him a hard look and said, “You know, if I hadn’t seen the marks myself, I’d be sure you were making this up just to cause trouble between them.”

“Trust me, Watcher, I wish I had nothin’ better to do than to make up stuff about that wanker. Not sayin’ I don’t want him gone. Jus’ sayin’ he’s makin’ it awful easy for me.”

“Well, as long as he’s here, we—I’d -- better take the bull by the horns.” Giles turned and headed for the training room, shaking his head at the stupidity of the younger man.

When he opened the door, Buffy had just thrown Riley into the mats and ran to him to apologize.

“I’m sorry, Riley,” she said as he winced and rubbed his chest. “I just forgot you weren’t...”

“You forgot I wasn’t as strong as you anymore,” he said with more than a little bitterness. “Yeah, I got that last night. I suppose you’d rather be sparring with Spike,” he sneered at her.

Buffy blinked at him, a hurt expression on her face. The only thing keeping her anger at bay was the knowledge that he was right. She WOULD have preferred to be sparring with Spike.

Making one more attempt to soothe his feelings, she said, “Riley, you never were as strong as me. I just didn’t used to have to worry so much about hurting you....” her voice trailed off as his face darkened and she realized she’d just made it much worse.

“That’s right. I keep forgetting. You don’t really need me, do you? For anything. Why do you keep me around?”

“Good question, Slayer,” came a drawl from the doorway. “Why do you?”

Buffy and the soldier whirled simultaneously to glare at the lean, muscular blond lounging against the door jamb.

“Spike...” Buffy began, as she started toward him, only to be interrupted by Riley as he snarled, “she doesn’t need advice from a vampire,” his voice dripped with contempt and venom. “There’s nothing a blood sucker could offer...”

“That right, soldier-boy?” Spike said, meeting Riley’s eyes with a cold stare. “You sure blood-suckers have nothin’ to offer?”

The bigger man froze in place, trying to process Spike’s words as well as the innuendo behind them. He turned away and shook his head saying, “I’ve got nothing to say to you, Spike. Get out of here.”

Buffy was so busy staring back and forth between the two men, trying desperately to understand the obvious undercurrent in the room, that she hadn’t noticed her watcher’s approach until he was right up next to them. Forcing Riley to look him in the eye, he ordered, in his best Ripper voice, “I want you to take your shirt off, Riley.”

When the other man just stood there, staring at him, he added in a deadly tone, “Now.”

“Do as he says, wanker,” the vampire added as he glided into the room, moving like the deadly predator that he was. “Let’s see what you got under there.”

Once again Buffy was the bewildered onlooker to a three-way conversation between her watcher, the vampire and the man she was supposed to be dating.

“What are they talking about this time, Riley?” she asked with an edge to her voice that clearly indicated she wasn’t going to be put off.

“Nothing, they’re talking about nothing,” he mumbled as he edged toward the door. Giles moved quickly to block the exit, bringing a well-used fighting staff out from behind his back when the soldier looked as though he was going to try to go by him.

While inwardly Spike was fuming at the knowledge that he couldn’t actually hurt the larger man, he allowed none of that to show as he went into game face and backed the watcher up.

Deciding she’d had enough of the cryptic, and more than enough of the stand-off now taking place, Buffy walked up to Riley and ripped the shirt off his back. She gasped when she saw that his arms, chest and shoulders were covered with vampire bites in various stages of healing.

“Riley? Wha-?” She looked from her watcher to her boyfriend in dismay and bewilderment.

“Yes, Riley,” Giles asked calmly and coldly, “What exactly have you been doing to have accumulating all these bites?”

“Riley?” Buffy raised a tentative hand toward a scar just over his left nipple. “What happened? Did you stumble into a nest? How did you get so many bites? And why aren’t you dead?” She looked back and forth between the three men again, correctly reading from the tension between them that Giles and Spike knew the answers to her questions.

Riley stared back at her, anguish warring with anger as he tried to think of an explanation that wouldn’t mean the end to their relationship. He stepped toward her, ignoring the growl from the vampire, and said hesitantly, “Buffy, can’t we talk about this...privately? Somewhere quiet where I can explain—“

“She’s not going anywhere with you,” her watcher said in a voice that brooked no argument. “You tell her or we will.”

The watcher’s inclusion of Spike was all it took to tip the balance from anguish to anger, and Riley’s face changed as he snapped at Buffy, “I got them from something that needed me, Buffy. I got what I needed and she got what she needed. An equal exchange. Not something you’d know anything about!”

Buffy’s eyes filled with tears at his words, but she held them back as she tried to understand what he was saying.

“I...I don’t understand. Did you let a vampire bite you? Why would you do that?”

“Your vampire does things for you, mine does things for me. What’s the big deal?” He sneered at her shocked face.

“The big deal, you ignorant bastard, is that ‘Buffy’s vampire’ isn’t drinking from her and she’s in no danger of being killed or turned. I’m not putting her or her family at risk.” Spike’s eyes were amber daggers aimed at the other man.

“I don’t understand,” she said, trying to control the tremble in her voice. “Where did you find a vampire that wouldn’t try to drain you?” She looked at her watcher in confusion

“In a vamp whorehouse.” Spike’s cold, even tone belied the jumble of emotions he was suppressing. He was shaking with the need to hurt the blustering young man the way he was obviously hurting Buffy, but Giles’ hand on his arm and the knowledge that he wouldn’t get more than one punch in before the chip incapacitated him, kept him from following his instincts. The horrified look on Buffy’s face pleased his demon, at the same time that his heart ached for her.

“A what?” She looked back at her boy friend and cringed when she saw the truth on his face. “Riley, how could you? I don’t understand...I thought you loved me...”

Riley looked back at her defiantly, “I did...do... love you, Buffy. But you don’t need me. I’m just another human to you. Something for you to protect.” His face collapsed and he shuddered as he said, “I’m sorry, Buffy. I never meant to...” He turned, pushed past Giles and ran from the room. They heard the bell jangle as the door to the shop opened and shut behind the ex-commando.

Buffy sank to the floor with her head in her hands, letting the tears she hadn’t wanted to shed in front of her former lover fall.

“I did this? Is that what he’s saying? I made him feel so inadequate that he....” She raised tear-filled eyes and looked back and forth between her watcher and the vampire. “This is my fault.”

Spike’s “Bloody hell!” was muffled by the roar from her watcher as he pulled her to her feet.

“This is NOT your fault! None of it. The bloody wanker made his own choices and for him to use his relationship with you as an excuse is unforgivable.” He shook her gently and forced her to look at him.

“Do you hear me, Buffy? This has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Riley’s inability to deal with the loss of the enhancements that were killing him. I will not have you adding that man’s inadequacies to your burdens.”

She looked back at her surrogate father with dull eyes, then dropped her gaze and nodded slowly.

“All right, Giles. I’ll try not to think about it. Just another crash in the ongoing train wreck that is Buffy’s love life.”

She was looking down as she spoke, and missed the pain that shot across Spike’s face at her statement. When he was sure she was not going to begin crying again, her watcher let go of her shoulders and turned away saying, “We need to let everyone know that Riley has become someone to avoid. Just in case he...” He didn’t bother to finish his thought. They all knew the dangerous path Riley was choosing.

Buffy drew a deep breath and mentally shook herself. “Okay, now then. Would someone please explain to me what a vamp whorehouse is, and why anyone would go to one?”

She looked back and forth between Spike and her watcher to see which one was going to fill in the gap in her knowledge of vampires. Giles looked studiously at the floor and cleared his throat several times. When he took off his glasses for the third time, Spike burst out, “Oh for...I’ll do it, Watcher. You go make your phone calls.”

Giles gratefully left the room, leaving Buffy staring at Spike expectantly.

“What do you want to know, love?” he asked with a sigh.

“Uh – why? How?”

“The why is easy – some vamps just don’t have the ability or desire to stalk and kill their food. They’re lazy, or dumb or jus’ not very inclined to kill. But they have to have blood to live, so they have to find a way to make humans want to let ‘em drink.

“A lot of humans like takin’ chances. They enjoy walkin’ on the wild side and they seek out vamps for sex...and other things.” Buffy raiser her eyebrows, but he shook his head and said, “you don’t want to know, pet. Trust me.”

“So, they find these vamps who won’t hunt and pay them for sex and to drink from them?” She shuddered and added, “Why would you pay someone to hurt you like that?”

Spike smiled briefly and muttered almost under his breath, “some things can hurt really good, Slayer. Remind me to show you sometime.”

She glared at him and he smirked back at her. In spite of the disgusted look she was giving him, he heard her heart rate go up slightly and got a quick glimpse of curiosity before her face closed again.

“You’re saying it feels GOOD to get bitten? Hey, been there, done that, not fun.”

“Well, I don’t know about the bite, love. But the blood pullin’? Can have some interestin’ side effects. Interestin’ enough for some humans to become addicted to it.”

“Side effects?”

“It enhances the sensation – if you get my drift.”

Buffy frowned for a second, then her eyebrows shot up. “Oh! Oh my.”

“Yeah,” he said with a genuine smile. “Oh my. For both parties.”

There was silence while Buffy digested the new things she was learning about vampires.

“Why didn’t Giles teach me this stuff?” she demanded. “I should know about ...things. It’s my job.”

Spike laughed, “I suspect old Rupert would choke on his tea before he’d tell his Slayer that gettin’ bit by a vamp could get her off. Don’t know why you didn’t know about the whorehouse, though. Would have thought you’d run across it at some point.”

She gave him another piercing look. “How did you know about it?”

“Demon, love, remember? Everybody knows where it is and who works there.”

“So, these vampires don’t kill anyone? They just ...”

“They take what’s willingly given. No more, no less. Most of the time, anyway.”

“MOST of the time?”

He shrugged, “accidents happen. Somebody gets carried away and takes too much. Usually they’ll just turn the victim. Out of guilt or somethin’, I guess.”

“So, Riley could get turned if he keeps going there?”

“Could happen. ‘S why the watcher and I decided to confront him. He was putting you and yours in danger.” His eyes flashed yellow as he thought about how reckless the soldier had been.

She looked at Spike speculatively. “So, when you got chipped – do you think you could have gotten blood that way? Would the chip fire if you weren’t trying to hurt the person?”

He stared at her with his mouth open. “Are you askin’ me if I’d sell myself for blood? If I’d...” he stopped his indignant tirade when he saw her raise her eyebrows. “Well, hell yes, if I could’ve found a willing donor, I would have. Would have tried it, anyway. Don’t know what the soddin’ chip would do.” He looked at her from beneath his eyelashes and shuffled his feet.

“Wouldn’t have sold myself, though. Would’ve had to be somebody I actually wanted to... Anyway, I’m a master vampire. I couldn’t be seen in a whorehouse with all the misfits and weaklings. I’da starved first.”

“You almost did, if I remember right,” she snarked at him.

“Yeah,” he said softly. “But I came to the right place for help, didn’t I?”

“I guess you did,” she answered slowly. She raised her eyes to his. “I’m glad you came to us, Spike.”

He glided closer to her and reached out to push a piece of hair off her face. “So am I, love. So am I.”

Chapter Eight

Spike offered to drive Buffy and Dawn to the hospital that evening, so they finished eating and waited patiently for the sun to go down. As soon as it was getting to be dusk, the vampire appeared at the door and took the keys to the SUV from Buffy.

The Slayer stuck out her lower lip and groused at him, “Contrary to what you and my mother think, I am perfectly capable of driving her car.” Over her head Dawn and Spike exchanged eyerolls as they walked to the vehicle.

“Uh, Buffy? Mom was pretty clear about not wanting to have to fix any more dents in car.”

“That last one was NOT my fault!”

She stuck her lower lip out even further, tempting Spike to shock Dawn by taking it in his teeth and sucking on it. Instead, he leaned over to whisper in her ear that if she didn’t stop pouting, he was going to bite her lip off.

“I am not pouting!” she insisted. “I’m just saying, I got my license and everything and everybody still acts like I can’t drive a car. It’s not fair.”

“You still can’t drive a car,” her sister said primly as she climbed into the back seat.

Spike laughed at Buffy’s half-hearted swat at her sister and ran around to hold the door for her on the passenger side. Tossing her head and ignoring the weirdness of having Spike hold a car door for her, she got into the front seat and turned around to stick her tongue out at Dawn. Spike slid into the driver’s seat and immediately began punching buttons on the radio until he came to something he liked.

The short ride to the hospital was a welcome respite from the drama and worry of the past week. Buffy and Spike squabbled over which radio stations to play, Dawn disagreed with both of them and they arrived at the hospital laughing and flushed.

When Spike walked into the waiting area with Dawn and Buffy, not one of the Scoobies batted an eye. Even Xander didn’t bother to say anything derogatory. It was apparent that Giles had filled them in on Riley’s evening activities and they all looked at Buffy uncomfortably, not sure what to say. Finally, Willow stepped up and put her hand sympathetically on Buffy’s arm.

“Riley’s a poop head, Buffy. Are you okay?”

“I will be,” her friend answered wryly. “Kinda getting used to the whole ‘poop head’ boyfriend thing.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Spike clench his jaw, and she shot him an apologetic look. As soon as she got a chance she sidled over to him and whispered, “You can be my boy friend, and take a chance on turning into a poop head, or you can not be either one. You decided.”

She moved away quickly, blushing at her own impulsive words, so missed the look of absolute wonder on his face as he stared after her. The vampire was frozen in place and wordless for so long that Xander finally asked him, “Hey, bloodsucker. Are you still with us?”

“Was jus’ thinkin’, Whelp. Not somethin’ you’re overly familiar with, I know.”

“Well I sure don’t expect to see it from you. Nothing good can come of it, I’m sure.”

Mutual insults taken care of, the two settled down away from the chattering women who, in a show of support for Buffy, were busy trashing everything male.

When they were finally allowed in to see Joyce, only immediate family was allowed into the room, so the others had to settle for peering in the door and waving. It was obvious that Joyce was not aware of much going on around her and the Scoobies soon left, telling Buffy they would come back the next day when her mom was awake.

Once the large group was gone, Spike slipped unnoticed into the room and stood quietly behind Buffy’s chair as she held her mother’s unresponsive hand and talked to her softly. When he heard a small quaver in her voice as she talked about not worrying about the gallery, he touched her gently on the shoulder. Forgetting Dawn was in the room, Buffy reached up and gave his hand a grateful squeeze, then looked up to see her sister staring at them with eyes like saucers.

While Buffy went brain dead with dismay, Spike winked at Dawn and leaned down to kiss Buffy on the cheek. Instead of the shock and horror Buffy expected to see on her sister’s face, there was just delight and just a slight flash of jealousy before Dawn squealed and said, “You two? How totally cool!”

“Think it probably isn’t something to be spreading around right now, Nibblet, Let’s jus’ keep it in the family for a while, okay?”

Dawn looked disappointed that she couldn’t run out and tell her friends that her sister was dating a vampire, but managed to get a grip on her enthusiasm and agreed to keep it quiet.

“So, does this mean you two are going to be having sex in Buffy’s room while Mom’s in the hospital? Cause the walls are kinda thin and hearing that could scar me for life...”

“Dawn!” Buffy was scarlet from head to toe and went from glaring at her sister to frantic glances at her mother. She sincerely hoped Joyce was unable to hear anything going on around her.

“What? It’s not like I don’t know what it is, you know. And Spike is, like, really hot and he loves you, so—“

Dawn! Stop. Now!” Buffy’s glare had gone from embarrassed to just really angry Slayer and her sister finally stopped her excited questions for the time being.

Spike was laughing so hard he could hardly stand up and Buffy included him in her glare as she got to her feet and prepared to leave. She threw a half-hearted punch at his head, but her lips were quirking as she resisted the urge to smile and him and her equally amused sister.

“We’ll just see how funny this is to you two when it turns out Mom was awake and heard everything you said,” she grumbled as they headed for the door. “And I WILL be reminding her it wasn’t me who brought up the subject of sex.”

As they left the room, none of them noticed the small smile that touched the mouth of the sedated woman on the bed, but she drifted back to sleep comfortable that her daughters were being well cared for.





CHAPTER NINE

Spike dropped Buffy and Dawn off at their house, then continued over to the gallery to check on the shipments and try to get them out of the floor. Joyce’s employees were used to seeing the blond vampire come and go in the evenings and didn’t question his right to be there when he came in and began opening crates.

Before they left for the evening, he got them to promise to display everything that he got unpacked and inventoried during the night. He promised he would place the heavier objects on the floor, leaving them to present the smaller ones.

When he had finished his work and checked the books, he slipped quietly out the back, locking the door behind him. Satisfied that he had done as much as he could for one night, he headed back toward Revello drive, not sure what he would find there, but knowing it was where he needed to be.

He arrived just in time to see an irate Riley Finn banging on the front door while a terrified Dawn stood on the other side, refusing to let him in. In a second, Spike was on the porch and standing between the much larger man and the door.

“Havin’ trouble understandin’ the word, ‘no’ again, are you, wanker?” he growled threateningly.

The ex-commando drew himself up to his full height as he glared down at the lean blond.

“Get out of my way, Spike,” he blustered. “I need to see Buffy and I’m going in there.”

“She’s not here!” Dawn shrieked. “I told you that already. She went on patrol.”

“I’ll just come in and wait for her,” he said firmly. “Let me in, Dawn.”

“Don’t do it, Nibblet,” Spike said quickly as he suddenly realized what was off about the tall man. “The wanker doesn’t have a heartbeat anymore.”

Riley dropped all pretense of being human and slipped into a vampire’s ridged face.

“That’s right. I don’t. I’m also just as strong as you are now – and you’re still chipped.” He leaped at Spike as he finished speaking, only to find himself flying through the air off the porch and on to the sidewalk.

As he rose to his feet, Spike was swaggering toward him, landing a hard right on the fledgling vamp’s jaw as he ground out, “Number one -You have been a vampire for less than a day. I,” he punctuated with another fist to the face, “have been around well over 100 years. You aren’t even close to being as strong as I am yet.” For emphasis, he threw Riley into a large tree, then pulled him up and punched him again as he continued, “Number 2 – the chip doesn’t work on demons, you moron. So I can hurt you all I want.”

With a roundhouse kick to the chest he sent the larger vampire back to the ground as he growled, “And trust me, I really, really want.” As he advanced on the now cringing fledgling, he sensed Buffy and looked away for a second to see where she was, As soon as he wasn’t glaring at the other vampire, Riley leaped to his feet and ran off into the darkness.

With a snarl, Spike went to run after him, but a small hand on his arm stopped him.

“No, Spike, let him go. This is my problem and I should deal with it. He’ll be back and I’ll stake him then.”

He looked at her carefully but could see no sign of anything except acceptance and resignation on her face.

(I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let her do that to herself again. She liked the big git, even if she wasn’t in love with him like she thought. I’m gonna see to it that he’s a pile of farm dust before she ever has to.)

“Alright, love. But if I see him first, or if he’s threatening the Nibblet again....”

‘It’s my mess, Spike,” she said firmly. “I’ll clean it up.”

“Bloody fuckin’ hell, Buffy! Didn’t you listen to anything Rupert said to you? That soddin’ prat’s inadequacies are NOT your fault! “

He stopped yelling and stared at her, breathing hard and unnecessarily. He softened his look and his tone.

“Let me do this for you, love. You don’t need to hurt yourself like that. If you don’t want me to do it, ask your watcher.”

“It’s my JOB, Spike,” she growled at him.

Suddenly he remembered how angry it made her when Riley tried to impinge upon her slayer duties and he raised his hands in surrender.

“Alright, love. Wasn’t tryin’ to get in your business. Jus’ tryin’ to spare you some unnecessary emotional pain.”

Buffy’s shoulders slumped and she leaned against him in apology. “I didn’t mean to yell at you, Spike. I know you wanted to spare me. But, hey, comes with the territory, you know? I learned very early in my Slayer career that I had to be prepared to slay somebody I cared about it if they became dangerous....” Her voice trailed off and he knew she was thinking of Angelus and how he’d killed her watcher’s girl friend when she couldn’t bring herself to kill him the first time they fought.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

“It’s okay, love. I know you can do it. I just hate to see you unhappy. Makes me say and do stupid things.”

Even as he petted her and assured her that he would not interfere, he was vowing to himself that Riley was going to disappear long before the Slayer was able to find and kill him.

(I‘ll talk to the watcher tomorrow. Maybe between the two of us we can make this go away.)

Chapter 10

Buffy pulled back reluctantly and started toward the house. She looked back over her shoulder at the blond vampire and asked, “Are you coming in?”

Looking at Dawn’s still-frightened face, he nodded his head and jumped up onto the porch.

“Yeah, I’ll come in for awhile. Make sure you two are all tucked in and the house is all locked up before I—“

“I meant, are you staying tonight?”

She looked him right in the eye and waited for his reaction. He just stared at her for several seconds, stunned that she would ask that in front of Dawn and wondering desperately if he had misunderstood her. When he saw the big grin on Dawn’s face, he relaxed and moved toward Buffy, tilting his head to one side as he studied her face.

“If that’s what you want, Buffy. You know I will. I’ll stay as long as you need me to.”

“Could be a long time,” she said, stepping closer to him, her eyes still challenging him.

“I got time.” He met her look for look. “I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

When she flinched at that, he thought back to what the men she’d had in her short life had done to her, and as he followed her into the house he tipped her chin up to look at him again.

“I’m not going anywhere, Buffy. I promise you. I will be here as long as you want or need me. You or the Nibblet. Or your mum, for that matter. Won’t leave you. Thought you might have figured that out by now,” he finished softly as he pulled her into his arms.

With a small sigh, the Slayer allowed herself to be held and cherished while her younger, but wise beyond her years, sister tiptoed up stairs and locked herself in her bedroom for the night.

For once Buffy was able to enjoy the way their bodies seemed to fit together without feeling pangs of disloyalty toward Angel or Riley. She tilted her face up toward him only to find his lips already on the way toward hers. At first the gentle, tender pressure was just what she wanted, but as they stood there, bodies touching and mouths silently promising a new relationship between them, Buffy could feel the warmth the vampire always generated in her spreading throughout her body.

As her heart rate increased and her breathing became more noticeable, Spike’s own body reacted to her as it always did with his borrowed blood rushing to the rapidly hardening object pressed against Buffy’s stomach. He remembered his promise to her not to push for a repeat of their mutual pleasuring until she had nothing else to worry about and he tried to rein in the desire that flooded his body.

When Buffy shifted her body slightly he caught a whiff of arousal from her and knew he could no longer pretend he was in control of himself. With a groan, he lightly touched her lips with his tongue, running it around the outside of her mouth until her teeth parted and her own warm one came out to play. Once again the vampire’s skillful kisses had Buffy melting against his body as her legs lost all ability to hold her up.

With her arms around his neck, and her fingers running through the soft hairs at the back of his neck, Buffy gave in to the sensations his hands were creating as he moved them around her body. Using one arm to hold her to him tightly, Spike allowed his other hand to roam up and down her back, sliding under her shirt to feel her heated skin and causing her to shiver. He reached down and cupped the cheeks of her ass, grinding their pelvises together in an attempt to find relief for the throbbing in his cock.

Buffy was no longer willing or able to deny how badly she wanted to feel his naked body pressed to hers. When his free hand slid around to gently cup a lace-covered breast, she moaned and arched into his hand as she wrapped one leg around his, pressing her warm, damp crotch into his thigh. As she began rubbing her heated sex against his leg, Spike broke the kiss to growl into her neck, “Bloody hell, love, I know I promised, but you’re killlin’ me here. Got to touch you, Buffy. Got to taste you again. Please, love. Just let me—“

Her response was to push him into the living room and onto the couch. He blinked up at her in surprise, not sure if she was rejecting him or not. One look at her lust filled green eyes and the pink tongue licking her lips and he relaxed back onto the cushions.

(Baby wants to play, then. I can do that.)

Buffy looked at the lean, black-clad body sprawled in front of her and spoke her thoughts out loud.

“Too many clothes!” she blurted.

“Wha-?”

She blushed furiously, but didn’t back down now that she’d said it.

“You have too many clothes on. Take them off. Now.”

She knew she sounded more like Sergeant Buffy than a woman in the throes of passion, but Spike didn’t seem to care. He just smirked up at her and began to slowly pull his tee shirt off over his head. As he did, his biceps flexed and his stomach was pulled in, allowing a brief glimpse of a line of soft, dark blond curls disappearing into the waistband of his jeans.

Buffy’s eyes were going back and forth from his muscular arms, to his flat stomach and up to his now-exposed chest. As soon as he had dropped his shirt on the floor, Spike’s hands went to the button on his jeans and Buffy’s eyes were immediately riveted on their slow progress in unbuttoning his pants and lowering the zipper. She gave an unconscious whimper when he stopped unzipping and leaned forward to take off his boots.

With her view now blocked, Buffy came somewhat to her senses and she reached for the curtains, pulling them closed against any eyes that might be spying on the Slayer’s house. She also turned off the lamp in the living room so that the only light was coming from the hallway and the kitchen.

A sound from the couch brought her attention back to the vampire just in time to watch him slowly pushing his pants down over his hips and thighs. She gasped unintentionally when his erect cock was freed to bob against his stomach.

(Woo, hoo! I almost forgot how big that thing is!)

She gulped audibly and swallowed hard, lifting her eyes quickly to his face only to see him looking at her with great amusement. She blushed again when he stood up to let his jeans drop to the floor and said, “See anything you like, love?”

He ran his hands down his body from his chest to his groin, then raised his arms over his head in a stretch that flexed every muscle he had. Buffy knew he was teasing her, laughing at the combination of embarrassment and lust he could read on her face.

(All right, Fang face, two can play at this game. Let’s see what it takes to make you start begging again).

With a sultry smile that she hoped disguised her nervous thoughts, she softly ordered him, “Lie back down on the couch, Spike.” The sight of his pale, lean body stretched out on the sofa almost made her forget her plan when her hands stretched, seemingly of their own accord, toward that exposed smooth skin.

With a little mental shake, Buffy reminded herself of what she wanted to do to him. She was helped by the cocky expression on his face as he watched her snatch her hands back from their attempt to touch him.

Instead of joining him on the sofa as he clearly expected, she stepped back and gave her own lengthy stretch, accompanied by small sounds of pleasure as she worked her muscles. She tried not to grin as she noticed Spike’s cocky look being replaced by puzzled lustfulness.

She slowly pulled her tank top off over her head, pausing with it just in front of her face, knowing that position was pushed her breasts together and making them appear larger than they actually were. She tried to avoid looking at Spike’s face as she finished taking off the shirt and tossed it over his head.

From the corner of her eye she saw him snatch it off his face so that he could watch as she unhooked her bra and dropped it to the floor, sighing with relief as she took it off. She stretched up again, then pulled her arms behind her back to stretch her pectoral muscles. She ran her hands up her rib cage and cupped her breasts briefly, rubbing a thumb across the nipples as she pretended to study them for a second.

She ignored the strangled sound that came from the now very focused vampire as she undid the snap on her stylish, but Slaying-friendly, stretch jeans and turned her back on him as she shimmied them off her hips and to the floor. She heard him growl when she bent over to pull them off her feet, exposing her smooth, rounded butt cheeks to his view. She peeked back over her shoulder and smirked at him, wiggling her ass at him as she did so.

“Get that luscious arse back over here, Slayer,” he growled at her, his eyes devouring her from head to toe. He licked his lips in anticipation of touching the smooth golden skin now exposed to him. His eyes were such a dark blue they appeared black as he raked them over her curves.

“Are you giving me orders, vampire?” she asked sweetly as she dropped her thong. “Cause, you know I don’t follow them very well, don’t you?”

With another loud groan, he fell back against the cushions and lifted his hands in surrender.

“You win, love. Whatever you want. I give up. Just get back over here where I can touch you...please, Buffy? Please, love? Before I spontaneously combust!”

With a triumphant smile, the small blond approached the begging vampire and leaned down to whisper softly, “I like it when you beg. It makes me feel all...” her voice trailed off as she gave in to her own desires and ran her hands over his smooth, muscular chest and down his hard abdomen until she her fingers were entwined in the crisp curls at the base of his shaft.

She gave it a quick lick with her tongue, but before she could do anything else, she was yanked up and on top of the vampire. The feel of his cool bare skin against her heated softness was enough to make both Slayer and vampire gasp in pleasure. Buffy pressed herself against him as hard as she could, trying to ensure that every piece of bare flesh was in contact with his.

Spike was clutching her to him as tightly as he could, grateful that her Slayer body could take the pressure he was putting on it. When she wriggled against him in an attempt to touch more skin, he gasped and arched up into her, pushing his hips against hers and allowing his cock to slip between her thighs.

“Let me in, love,” he begged softly, no longer caring how much of a ponce he appeared to be as long as he could bury himself in her warmth. “Let me feel you around me. Let me love you, Buffy. Want you so bad...need to feel you...love you...”

The touch of Spike’s eager cock pushing on her clit brought home to Buffy just what she was doing. For a wrenching second, she started to recoil, fear of what would happen if she let the vampire love her almost taking over. Then she remembered his impassioned speech about having no soul to lose and his vow that he was not like Angel/Angelus in any way and she gave in to the urgings of her body and opened her legs to allow him entrance.

The look on his face when he felt himself nudging into her warmth was enough to justify Buffy’s decision. She’d never seen that same expression of absolute awe and adoration on the face of any of her previous lovers. She barely had time to be grateful that Spike didn’t have any happiness clauses to worry about, before the pure physical pleasure of being slowly filled by his cool, thick length drove all coherent thoughts out of her head.

They gave matching sighs of contentment when he was fully buried in her warmth and they could both feel how perfect the fit was. Buffy felt completed for the first time in her short life. It felt like his body was designed just to fit with hers in a way to give her the most pleasure.

Spike was close to losing consciousness at the overwhelming sensation of being buried inside Buffy’s tight, slick warmth. Her scent, the pounding of the blood in her veins, the sound of her heartbeat and her warm breath on his neck all conspired to render him immobile.

(Could dust now,happily. I’ll never be this close to heaven ever again. This is my heaven. My world. Never want to leave here.)

When Buffy began to slowly squeeze her Slayer enhanced muscles around him, he quickly snapped out of his happy daze and remembered that it could get better and, in fact, was already doing so.

Keeping up a steady murmur in her ear about how wonderful she was and how good she felt, he began to slowly move his hips, being sure to thrust just a little harder at the end of each stroke so that his pubic bone generated pressure on her clit. He was rewarded by her steady whimpers and gasps as their pace picked up until he was thrusting harder and harder into her as she wrapped her ankles around his back and pulled him in even harder.

When Buffy’s whimpers and gasps changed to panting chanting of his name, he couldn’t prevent his demon from emerging to lick the side of her neck. With a final shriek of “Spike!” Buffy clenched around him and threw her head back, baring her throat to his fangs. With a muffled roar, he exploded inside her, at the same time allowing his sharp canines to penetrate the soft skin on her neck.

Buffy screamed again, as another, more powerful orgasm shook her body and she reveled in the feel of her blood flowing into his needy mouth. She came down from the heady high to find him licking softly at the bite wounds which were already healing even as they collapsed against each other in completion.

The Slayer in her wanted to yell at him for daring to touch her with his teeth, but the best she could manage was a very un-slayerly, “You bit me, Spike. Why did you bite me?”

He rolled off of her with a sigh, eliciting another whimper from both of them as his temporarily flaccid cock slid out of her.

“I’m really sorry, love. I had no idea that was gonna happen. Thought I had more control than that. Not around you, I guess,” he added ruefully, kissing her forehead affectionately.


She raised up slightly, leaning on her elbow and tracing circles on his chest with her finger.

“Why didn’t your chip fire?”

He looked up at her and asked with a worried frown, “Did I hurt you?”

“What? No, it didn’t hurt...it felt....” she stopped and blushed as she remembered her body’s reaction to the bite.

He laughed softly at her obvious embarrassment and said, “don’t you remember our conversation about why humans would seek out vamps to bite them?”

Her eyes widened in sudden understanding. “Oh my god! No wonder Riley—“ She blushed again and put her face down against his neck. “I can’t compete with something like that!”

She shocked to feel Spike begin to tremble and looked up to see his demon fully emerged and snarling.

“There is no excuse for that soddin’ prat to have needed anything more than you could give him! I didn’t mean to bite you, and if I never had, it still would have been the best shag of my life. He was an ass and he got what was comin’ to him for doin’ that to you.”

The vampire was taking rapid, unnecessary breaths as he tried to calm down and force the demon back. When he finally relaxed into his human face and Buffy could once again see his beautiful blue eyes staring at her, she leaned forward and nuzzled him gently.

“Okay. Calm down. I was just surprised by it, that’s all. I had forgotten what you told me about the biting during sex.”

“Didn’t mean to do that to you, pet,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry. Won’t happen again.”

He stoked her silky hair, not seeing the look of dismay on her face.

“So, you didn’t want me to feel that? You wouldn’t do it again if I asked you?” She looked up at him with a small frown and the beginning of a pout.

He pulled back to look at her in astonishment.

“Has your Watcher taught you nothing about vampire mating rituals, Slayer? D’you have any idea what you’d be askin’ for?”

Buffy frowned more intently and said somewhat sharply, “I wouldn’t be asking you to turn me, you moron. Just to...But if you don’t want to, that’s fine. I can deal.”

Instead of responding to her aggrieved comments immediately, he took her face in both hands and captured her lips with his, kissing her until she was moaning against his mouth and reaching for his ready cock. When they broke for air and he could once again speak, he put his forehead against hers and shut his eyes as he said grimly, “Don’t ever think that I don’t want to bite you, Buffy. I’ve wanted to bite you from the first time I saw you – and not just because I wanted you dead.”

He sucked in an unnecessary breath of air as her warm hand wrapped around him and squeezed tightly.

“Then why wouldn’t you do it again?” she demanded, pulling on his cock at the same time.

“Ungh!” he gasped as he pushed into her hand. His eyes rolled back in his head as he lay back against the pillows and reveled in the feel of her hands on his cock. “Buffy, Slayer, like that, love. Oh yeah! oh fuck, Buffy. Stop, love, stop...don’t stop, don’t ever stop, Slayer, Buffy. Buffy!”

He grabbed her hands and with a supreme effort of will, he stopped her vigorous attentions to his cock before he exploded in her hands. He held on to her hands, breathing hard and trying to calm himself before he let go.

“Jesus, pet. What are you tryin’ to do to me?” he groaned. “You could have had a real mess on your hands in another couple of seconds.”

“I’m trying to get an answer from you,” she pouted. “You ignored my question.”

“There was a question?” he asked in all sincerity. “What was it?”

“The question,” she growled, “is why wouldn’t you bite me again if it makes the....you know...so much better. Don’t you want it to be good for me? Didn’t biting me make it good for you?” Her voice became tinged with just a little uncertainty. “Didn’t you like biting me? Don’t I taste good to you?”

His eyes flew open and he stared at her, completely bewildered. When he realized she was seriously questioning his reaction to making love to her, he sat them both up and took her hands in his. He swung his legs over so that his feet were on the floor and she was sitting astride his lap. Without thinking, she lowered herself onto his rigid cock and wrapped her legs around him.

He grinned at her wryly for a moment and said, “Wanted to have a serious conversation about this, love, but you’re not makin’ it easy on me.”

“Go ahead,” she demanded. “Converse. I’m listening.”

As she spoke, she clenched her muscles around him and smiled when he groaned. Then her eyes went wide and she yelped in surprise when he twitched inside her, nudging a sensitive spot she hadn’t known was there.

“Stop that!” she said indignantly.

“I will if you will, you evil woman,” he growled at her. “We need to talk about this now and if I have to put clothes back on both of us to make it happen, I will,” he threatened.

Buffy blinked at him and realized he was deadly serious.

“Okay,” she said softly, “I’m sorry. Tell me what I need to know.” She stayed where she was on his lap, but held still and waited expectantly for him to explain.

“Right then,” he said with a sigh. “Has Rupert told you anything about vampires and sex?”

“Um, other than, don’t do it with them?”

“Very funny,” he rolled his eyes at her. “You already know about the...enhancing... effects of a bite during sex, and that a bite like that isn’t usually fatal and can be repeated.” Before she could say anything, he put a finger over her open lips and shook his head. “That’s what happens when vamps are doing it for the free blood. They have sex, bite, drink, and everybody goes home happy.”

He took a deep, unnecessary breath and continued, “It’s a little more complicated than that when there are...feelings... involved.” He peered at her from under his dark lashes and she shifted uncomfortably as his love for her shone in his darkened eyes.

“If I were to say...I...the wrong thing...while I was drinkin’ from you, I’d be claiming you. And if you should say...the wrong thing...at the same time, you’d be accepting the claim.”

Buffy frowned, both at his obvious avoidance of whatever was so dangerous to say and at herself for not paying more attention when Giles tried to teach her about vampire lore. She struggled to remember what exactly a claiming ritual was intended to do.

“So, if you said this ‘wrong thing’ at the wrong time, you’d be what? My boyfriend? What’s so awful about that? I thought you wanted to be my boyfriend?”

The vampire gritted his teeth in annoyance. “I’m a vampire, love, remember? Immortal?” When she raised her eyebrow, he smiled sheepishly. “Well, ’less you dust me in a fit of temper one of these days. Point is, a claim is much more than a boyfriend/girlfriend kinda thing. It's more of a marriage. Sacred. And, it’s forever. It ends when one of you is dead or dusty. “

“Oh,” she said in a small voice. “I guess I shoulda paid more attention in Slayer-school, huh?” She looked at him from behind a curtain of golden hair.

He pushed her hair out of her face and smiled at her. “I’m sure you had no reason to think you’d have to worry about it someday, love. And you won’t,” he said firmly. “Not if I’m careful. And I will be. I promise you, sweetheart,” he finished. “Would never do that to you.”

(As much as I might want to. Know you don’t belong with the likes of me. Won’t try to hold you longer than you want to be here with me.)

She studied him carefully for a full minute, then leaned in and kissed him softly. “I trust you, Spike. I’m not worried about it.”

“Good,” he said with an affectionate leer, “Cause I’ve got plans for you, Slayer.”

As he spoke, he twitched his cock again, hitting the bundle of nerves he was looking for and watching her eyes go wide again.

“Oooh,” she moaned and squeezed him hard.

They were soon engaged in a competition to see which one would surrender first to the sensations they were creating using just the muscles that connected them so intimately. An outside observer might have thought they were asleep as they sat facing each other, foreheads pressed together, eyes shut, each trying be the last to give in to the rapidly building tension. After minutes of complete immobility, they suddenly uttered matching moans and shuddered all over as their orgasms shook them out of the trance-like state they’d fallen in to.

They collapsed against each other, laughing and breathing hard as they rolled onto their sides on the couch. Spike pulled the afghan up over Buffy’s relaxed body and they drifted off to sleep, still wrapped in each other’s arms.


Outside the small bungalow, A glowering set of amber eyes stared at the curtained window and the big vampire snarled. He had seen Buffy shove the other vampire onto the couch and hoped briefly that she was angry enough to stake him. When she pulled the curtains instead, he let his demon use his new senses to listen to their voices and Buffy’s heartbeat as the two lovers began to consummate their new relationship.

He listened long enough to be sure of what he was hearing, then ran off into the darkness snarling and planning his revenge on the blond vampire that had taken what was his.