Not Your Ordinary Walk In the Park

Chapter 8

"Magnificent" was not a Buffy word, but in this case it was the only
one that fit. He was fully erect, his cock long and thick. Buffy
swallowed, her eyes locked on him as he began walking toward her, his
cock slapping lightly against his flat belly with each step he took.

When he reached her, Buffy stood frozen, knowing she should move away
from him but locked into stasis by the force of her desire. He
lifted his hand, and Buffy was sure he was going to pull her head to
his to give her one of those mind-numbing kisses that they'd shared
that morning. Her heartbeat sped up in anticipation. His index
finger captured her chin, lifting her eyes to his.

"You can join me or you can leave. Your choice."

His hand dropped away from her face and he walked over to the pool.
Buffy felt bereft and disappointed before the tiny voice in her head
began telling her *Come on. Let's leave! Don't watch him anymore*.
She ignored the voice as Spike slipped into the pool. The water near
the edge came to just above his hips. As he waded farther out, the
water rose until it reached mid-chest. Stopping, he turned around
until he was facing her and began to wash. He sluiced handfuls of
water over his face and chest sliding his palms in circles over his
nipples and then slipping his hands under his arms. His movements
were slow and his muscles flexed hypnotically as he washed. His eyes
never leaving her, he slid his hands down his chest and belly under
the water. When his hands began to move in a rhythmic back and forth
motion, Buffy had no doubt what body part he was washing. She felt
her face burn even as her inner walls clenched painfully and the
crotch of her panties became drenched.

The tiny voice in the back of her head was probably still screaming
at her to leave, but it was completely drowned out by the repeated
litany of *IwanthimIwanthimIwanthim*. His voice echoed in her head
*Your choice*. She remembered another time she'd been confronted with
making a choice. She'd made a horrible mistake with Parker.

Turning away from him, she walked to where Spike had removed his
clothes. Turning back around she was surprised to see that his arms
were hanging limply at his side and he'd shut his eyes. There was a
look of such utter dejection on his face that it touched Buffy's
heart. He must have thought she was leaving, she realized. She sat
down on the bench-like rock and removed one of her boots letting it
fall noisily to the ground. Spike's eyes flew open in surprise and
then a look of astonishment crossed his face. He watched as she
removed the other boot and her socks and then stood up slipping her
jacket from her shoulders. Taking hold of the bottom of her blouse,
she pulled it over her head and dropped it on top of his pile of
discarded clothing. Undoing the fastening of her jeans, she wiggled
her hips until they slid down her legs. Tossing them to join her
top, she slowly walked to the edge of the pool clad only in her
camisole and panties.

Their eyes stayed locked as she grasped the ragged hem of her
camisole and slowly pulled it over her head. When it was off, she
allowed it to float to the ground at her feet. Spike's eyes turned a
smoky gray as he looked at her. Buffy felt a slight tremor pass
through her body when she saw the look of hunger on Spike's face.
She allowed him to look his fill for several seconds and then slipped
her fingers under the elastic waistband of her panties and slid them
down her legs until she could step out of them.

When she stood upright again, she heard a soft growl come from
Spike's direction as he waded through the water toward her. When he
reached the pool's edge he lifted up both arms to her. She stepped
forward, leaned down slightly, and placed her hands on his
shoulders. He wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her up
pulling her toward him. He slowly lowered her but stopped when her
breasts were level with his mouth. Buffy's breath caught in her
throat and she arched her body when he engulfed one breast with his
mouth. He sucked and flicked his tongue over the hardened nipple
until Buffy was moaning with need. Releasing her nipple with one
last hard pull, he switched breasts and began all over again. Buffy
couldn't remember ever wanting someone as much as she wanted Spike.
When at long last he began lowering her again, she was ready to take
him inside her.

He had other plans, however, and she found herself straddling him,
his cock rubbing between her thighs. Her fingernails dug into his
shoulders as the sensation of his cock on her clitoris made her
gasp. She saw her own desire reflected on his face and she reached
up to pull his head to her. The kiss was deep and intense. When
they broke the kiss, Buffy rubbed against him begging, "Please,
Spike. I want you so much."

He moved his mouth to her ear and whispered, "I'm going to eat you
now, little girl."

A thrill of fear flashed through Buffy and she tried to pull away,
but he held onto her and began pressing kisses down her throat,
across her collarbone and down to her breasts. He suckled at each
one again and then continued his downward journey. His head
disappeared below the surface of the water and Buffy closed her eyes,
her head dropping back as he kissed his way down her thighs. When he
applied pressure to separate her legs, she willingly, eagerly,
complied and his mouth began its journey back up her leg, this time
on her inner thighs.

Her legs almost buckled and she had to grab hold of the rocky wall of
the pool when his mouth latched onto her clit. His tongue flicked
lightly over the swollen nub and then he pulled it into his mouth and
began to gently suck. Tiny, needy noises came out of Buffy's throat
as he laved her with his tongue. He lifted one leg over his shoulder
and Buffy's nails dug into the rough rock as the sensations of his
mouth on her intensified. She was so near her climax that when he
inserted a finger into her slick opening, it was too much and Buffy
came with a cry. He slid her leg from his shoulder and then caught
her to keep her from falling under the water as her legs collapsed.

His head broke the surface of the water again. He ran his hand
through her hair and pressed his forehead to hers. "Did you like
what I just did to you, love?" he asked in a voice thick with
passion.

"Oh god, yes," Buffy gasped out.

He got a pleased, self-satisfied look on his face. Pulling her mouth
to his he kissed her. Buffy could taste herself on him, and it was a
very strange, erotic sensation to taste her own release.

As if reading her thoughts, he whispered, "Can you taste yourself on
my tongue, love? I knew you'd taste like that. All sweet and
tangy. I knew I'd love eating you."

The feel of his cock pressing against her reawakened Buffy's need and
she pressed tightly against him. "Spike, please," she whispered.

"You want me in you now, Buffy?" he asked in a thick voice.

"Now," she panted, wrapping her arms tightly around his
neck. "Please, Spike, I don't want to wait any longer."

He reached down and grabbed the back of her thighs lifting her up.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and lifted up as he guided his
shaft to her opening. When the tip was in place, Buffy lowered
herself, taking him slowly in. Their eyes met again and Buffy knew
that the look of wonder that was on his face was reflected on her
own. When she'd taken him all the way in, they stopped, arms wrapped
around each other, adjusting to each other, taking pleasure in the
intimacy.

Finally Spike positioned his arms so that he protected the tender
skin of her back. Leaning her into the pool's wall, he began to
move. Buffy had never felt anything like it before in her life. It
was as if he'd been made just for her. Every nerve, every muscle
responded to his touch, his skin, his movements, his taste, his
smell, his voice. He started slowly but increased his pace until he
was pounding into her. The way he moved his hips caused shocks of
pleasure throughout Buffy's body. She could hear his own gasps and
moans and when she tightened her inner muscles, he cried out, "Oh
fuck, Buffy! I'm going to come. Come with me, baby."

His voice, the frantic pounding her was giving her, all the
sensations of this coupling came together in the hardest climax Buffy
had ever experienced in her life. She felt herself convulsing around
his cock and then his own cry echoed in her ear as he exploded in
her.

They held onto each other tightly as they recovered. She could feel
Spike's legs trembling and knew that he'd been every bit as affected
by what they'd just done as she had.

At last he raised his head from where it rested in the crook of her
neck and looked into her eyes. A joyous smile creased his face and
he began to swing around in a circle in the water with her as he
laughed.

"Oh god," he exclaimed laughingly. "I should have known it'd be like
this. I should have realized that the only thing better than killing
a slayer would be shagging one."

Buffy gasped and pulled back.

"What?!" she cried out in shock.

He stopped twirling around and looking confused asked, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? God, you son of a...."

She might not have Slayer speed and strength in this dimension, but
her aim was true. Spike cried out in pain and his hands flew from
around her back to grab at his bleeding nose. Buffy began to fall
backward into the water and she twisted around. He was still inside
her and when she twisted around she twisted him as well.

Spike cried out even louder as he clutched at his wrenched manhood.
Buffy made her way through the water as quickly as she could. She
pulled herself out of the pool and ran up to where her discarded
clothes lie.

"Fuck, Buffy," Spike choked out, wiping at his bloody nose and
bending over in pain. "What'd you do that for?"

Buffy held her bundle of clothes in front of her as a barrier to his
eyes and stared at him in fury. "I can't believe what an idiot I
am," she spat. "That's all it was to you, wasn't it? Bagging
another Slayer?" Her eyes were filled with tears, and she wasn't
sure if they were simply tears of anger. "Well here's a news flash
for *you*, Spike. I'm not a Slayer here, remember? I'm just a girl."

Turning, she ran from the cavern making her way through the dark
tunnel, scraping her skin as she careened into the tunnel walls. She
could hear Spike calling out her name as she fled, and it made her
move even faster in an attempt to get away from him. When she at
last reached the outer cavern, she had to wipe the tears from her
eyes so that she could see. The fire Spike had started was still
burning, though it had burned down considerably. She carefully added
more wood to the fire and then stood in front of it shivering as she
pulled on her clothes.

She hadn't grabbed her boots in her haste so she had to walk
carefully across the rocky floor to stand in front of the cave's
entrance. The storm had hit with a fury while they were in the inner
cave, and rain was lashing down accompanied by ear-shattering peals
of thunder and blinding flashes of lightning. She didn't even hear
him enter the cave until he was right behind her.

"Buffy," he said placing his hands lightly on her arms.

"Don't touch me!" she spat out, jerking her arms away from him.

"Buffy, look. I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

She turned around and glared at him. He hadn't bothered to put on
any clothes, but Buffy ignored his nudity. "No? Then just how did
you mean it, Spike? I'm really curious."

He sighed and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "Look, when
I..." he hesitated and then sighed again. "When I killed those two
Slayers, it was in honorable combat." She stiffened even more at his
words.

"Yeah, I know. You don't think there's anything honorable about me,
but I *defeated* them, Buffy. In one-on-one unarmed combat. Well,
the Chinese girl did have a sword," he added thoughtfully, lightly
touching his scar. "And defeating them gave me the most intense
feeling of satisfaction I've ever had."

Buffy turned away from him again, unable to look at him as he talked
about killing her sister Slayers.

"It was the most intense feeling of satisfaction I've ever had until
just a few minutes ago," he added softly standing close to her back.
She could feel her nerves begin to hum again from his nearness and
the sound of his voice. "Making love to you was the most amazing
thing I've ever done. But you're right. It wasn't the Slayer I just
made love to. It was the girl."

He placed his hands on her arms again, pulling her back until she
rested against his body. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, "So
I guess that means it's not your Slayerness I crave. It's your
Buffyness."

Buffy felt her knees go weak at his words, and she closed her eyes
when he began to nuzzle at her neck sending chills down her spine.
His hands slid down her arms and when they roamed back up it was to
cup her breasts. Buffy gasped as his thumbs flicked over her nipples
and his teeth nibbled at her earlobe. She could feel his erection
pressing against her back. She leaned back into it, but when Spike's
hands moved down and began to work at the fastening to her slacks,
she listened to the tiny voice in her head and pushed him away.

"No, Spike," she said in a breathless voice. "We're not doing that
again."

"Buffy," Spike began, reaching for her again.

"No!" she said, batting his hands away desperately. "It's not going
to happen again. It shouldn't have happened the first time, but I
was weak. And I forgot. What you are. Who you are. I don't know
why I keep forgetting," she said in small voice racked with
confusion. Then she tilted her chin up and said in a stronger
voice, "I'm not interested in taking another vampire lover, Spike. I
loved Angel more than anything in this world and it turned into a
disaster. People died. I'm not going through that again, especially
with a vampire I *don't* love."

Spike stiffened and the expression on his face quickly changed from
beseeching to hurt to unreadable mask. Buffy almost faltered, but
she forced herself to ignore her reaction to his obvious hurt and
pressed on. "I think it's best if we just keep away from each other
as much as possible while we're here. And I think that once we get
back home, you should leave Sunnydale."

Spike stared at her silently and then laughed cynically. His eyes
narrowed and the color of his irises turned from sparkling blue to
slate gray. Buffy could feel his barely restrained anger. "Is that
right, Slayer? You want us to keep away from each other? Remember
that the next time you get cold," he said with a sneer. "But I'll
keep away from you while we're here, just like you want. We had a
bit of fun back there, but it was just sex. Just another notch in
your bedpost, yeah?" He took a step closer, and Buffy felt her
heartbeat accelerate in alarm. "I just hope I was better in the sack
than your last one-night stand."

Buffy flushed at this reminder that he had seen her humiliation with
Parker, and his next words tore at her heart though she tried to
ignore the pain she felt.

"And don't worry about when we get back home, Slayer. You're not so
special I'll think twice about you once we're back in good old
Sunnyhell. I just hope you don't chase after me the way you did that
Parker git, because that's really pathetic."

Buffy swallowed but refused to show how much his words had hurt and
shamed her.

"But I'm not going to leave town," he continued with a hint of a
threat in his voice. "Not until I get this sodding chip out of my
head. And when that happens, Slayer, you'll be the very first to
know."

He turned to leave, but stopped and turned back, his eyes
glacial. "And by the way, you knew exactly who I was in there, pet.
It was *my* name you screamed when you came." With those final
words, he turned on his heel and walked away.

Buffy wrapped her arms around herself and pushed down the hurt his
words had caused. She assured herself she'd done the right thing.
Getting involved with Spike would be the biggest mistake of her life,
but her feelings for him were a jumble right now, and she just didn't
understand why. She brushed yet another tear from her eyes. Maybe
it was this crazy dimension and once they were back home, she'd go
right back to hating him again. Things would be back to normal then.

She shivered and hugged herself tighter. It was from the cold air in
the cave, she told herself. Not from the sudden feeling of loss she
had.

Chapter 9

Buffy stayed as long as she could in the outer cave, adding the
remaining firewood to the fire and huddling next to it as cold wind
and rain blew past the entrance. When the cold finally drove her
back to the inner cavern, she saw that Spike had gotten dressed and
was now lying down, his eyes closed, perfectly still. She couldn't
tell whether or not he was actually asleep. She took a wide path
around him and found her own place to curl up. She tried to sleep
but too many thoughts kept running through her mind; the way she was
unable to control her attraction to Spike, his care for her since
they'd come to this world, and, no matter how much she tried to not
think about it, the feeling she'd had as they'd...

Her mind shied away from calling it making love. You made love with
someone you cared about. She'd made love with Angel and Riley.
Hell, at the time she considered it making love to Parker. But she
wouldn't - *couldn't* - call it making love with Spike. It was a
thing. A bad thing. A really bad thing. A really bad thing that'd
felt really, really good.

Buffy rolled over with a groan. Okay, it really wasn't anything
worth obsessing over. She'd already decided to break up with Riley,
so she hadn't cheated, technically. Besides, lots of people have sex
with people they don't even know and they enjoy it and it's no big
deal. They get off, get dressed, and go home without a second
thought. That's what this was. No big deal. Spike had been right
about one thing. It was just sex, nothing special. Buffy pushed
down the hurt the memory of his words caused.

At least Spike wasn't a stranger, Buffy continued with her
rationalization. She'd known him longer than she'd known Riley, even
if it was in a "we're mortal enemies and I'm going to kill you now"
kind of way. Anyway this whole mess was probably the fault of their
being in this dimension, or maybe they were suffering a hangover from
that stupid spell of Willow's. After all, she really hadn't felt
much like staking Spike since then.

Buffy blinked as that realization hit her. Okay, that's what this
was all about, she thought with a sigh of satisfaction at solving the
mystery over her sudden, overwhelming attraction to Spike. It was
all Willow's fault. She closed her eyes just knowing that now she
would fall asleep.

She felt soft lips on her mouth, a tongue slipping past her lips to
caress her tongue, hands gliding wraith-like over her skin, passing
lightly over her breasts, teasing her and bringing her body to
readiness for him. Her eyes flew open to find that she was alone.
She was trembling in frustrated longing, her heart pounding and her
breath coming out in little panting gasps. Sitting up, she ran a
shaking hand through her tangled hair. She looked at the gently
steaming pool and decided to take her aborted bath. The water would
help relax her, calm her down. Glancing at Spike, she saw that he
still lay in the same position he'd been in when she'd returned,
obviously asleep. As quietly as possible she removed her clothes and
slipped into the pool.

The water felt glorious and she luxuriated in it, allowing the heat
to soak away her tensions. As quietly as possible she swam across
the pool using the exercise to calm her, concentrating on each stroke
of her arms and blocking out any thoughts of Spike. At last tiring
from her swim, she found her footing and stood upright. She
cautiously glanced at Spike again. He'd rolled to his side facing
her, but he still appeared to be deeply asleep. Buffy began to rub
lightly at her body with her hands, washing as best she could without
soap. When she was finished, she allowed herself to float, shutting
her eyes and drifting aimlessly. As her body drifted, so did her
mind, and she was back in the pool with Spike, his hands and mouth
touching her in ways she'd never known before. She relived every
touch, every whisper, the feel of him as he entered her, the taste of
his mouth, the texture of his skin. She was aching with the memories
when a small noise disturbed her reverie.   Her eyes flew open to see
Spike crouched at the edge of the pool, his eyes glowing hotly as he
watched her. Buffy gasped, righted herself and crossed her arms over
her chest in an effort to cover herself. She wanted to yell at him
to stop looking at her, to go away and leave her in peace, but her
body betrayed her and she found she couldn't speak. Her heart was
pounding so loudly she was amazed that the sound didn't echo off the
cave walls. Her gaze remained locked to his, and though she tried to
turn away from him, she took one step forward instead. He didn't
move, didn't speak, but Buffy could feel him pulling her toward him.
She took another step forward.

He stood up and extended a hand toward her. Buffy hesitated, trying
to fight the pull. He still didn't speak, just stood there with hand
extended. As if drawn to him by an invisible cord, she waded though
the water on shaky legs. When she reached him, she held up her
hands. He grasped them and pulled her out of the water. With a
growl, he pulled her tight against his body plundering her mouth with
his own. Buffy could feel his clothes becoming soaked from the water
that drained from her body, but neither paid attention to it. She
wrapped her arms around his neck and answered his kiss with her own
desperation. He swung her up in his arms and headed back to where
his duster lay like a pallet on the cave floor. He placed her gently
down and then moved back to hurriedly remove his clothing. Spreading
her legs, he positioned himself to enter her, and then hesitated.

"Who am I, Buffy?" he said in a tight, strained voice.

"Spike," she whispered.

"What am I, Buffy?"

"Vampire," she gasped as the tip of his penis slipped into her.

He smashed his mouth to hers once more as he plunged into her,
cutting off the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Much
later, when Buffy was able to think coherently again, she was glad
he'd silenced her before she'd let slip words she wasn't ready to say.

They made love for hours. He taught her things about her body she
never knew and things about his body she'd never suspected. His body
became marred with scratch marks and love bites; hers with bruises
caused by his strong fingers and sucking mouth. At last, they fell
into an exhausted, sated slumber.

It was the discomfort of her insistent bladder that awoke her several
hours later. She was wrapped tightly in Spike's arms and had to
wiggle her way out of his embrace while he slept on like, well, the
dead. Buffy picked up his discarded shirt and pulled it on,
buttoning it up as she walked to the tunnel. The outer cave was even
colder than before and shrouded in complete darkness when she reached
the tunnel's end, the fire having long since burned out. A dim light
from the cave mouth guided her to the entrance. The lightning and
thunder had passed, but rain still poured down. Buffy slipped
outside allowing the overhang of the mountain to shelter her a bit
and relieved herself. Shivering from the cold, she stepped back into
the cave's entrance and stuck out her cupped hands to gather some of
the rainwater. She brought her cupped hands to her lips and greedily
drank down the water then thrust her hands out again.

"Buffy? What are you doing out here, love? You'll catch your death."

Buffy turned to see Spike, once again nude she noted with amusement,
walking toward her.

"I had to pee," she said. "And I'm dying of thirst." The cold rain
blew in on her and a shiver tore through her body as she finished
speaking.

"Yeah, well, tell you what. Let's get you back inside where it's
warm, and I'll bring the flask back, fill it up, and you can have a
nice drink. How's that then?"

Buffy stared at him in amazement. Every time he did something like
this, thought about her comfort, brought her food or gave her water,
it surprised her. Spike just wouldn't fit nicely into the Vampires,
All Evil All the Time mold. He held out his hand to her and she took
it. He pulled her to him for a kiss and then led her carefully
through the cave and passageway and back to his duster. Searching
through the pockets of the coat he pulled out his hip flask and
started to rise when her stomach growled loudly. He grinned at her
embarrassment and then reaching into another pocket, he brought out a
slightly bruised and battered fruit.

Handing it to her he said with a shy smile, "Sorry, love. I was
going to give this to you last night, but then, well..." He gave a
one-shoulder, half-apologetic shrug. Buffy reached out and took the
fruit.

"Thank you, Spike," she said around the lump in her throat.

He looked embarrassed now and quickly stood up. "Right, I'll get you
some water to go with your breakfast." He walked rapidly across the
cave and disappeared into the tunnel.

Buffy wiped the fruit off on Spike's shirt and took a bite. Chewing
slowly, she tried to make her meal last as long as possible. By the
looks of things, the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon so there
was no telling how long it would be before she got anything else to
eat.

Spike was back before she'd gotten half the fruit eaten. Sitting
down next to her, he opened the flask and held it out. Buffy took it
gratefully and drank several refreshing swallows before handing it
back to him. He recapped the flask and laid it aside, watching as
Buffy took another bite from the fruit.

She swallowed and was bringing the fruit back to her mouth to take
another bite when Spike said, "You've got a bit in the corner of your
mouth, love. Let me get it."

Buffy expected him to wipe it off with his thumb. Instead he leaned
forward and licked the corner of her mouth with the tip of his
tongue. Buffy's heart started thumping, and when their eyes met
Spike's mouth descended, his arm slipped around her back, and he
pulled her to him. The fruit fell from Buffy's hand as she wrapped
her arms around him.

He removed his shirt from her and lowered her back down onto his
duster, his hand cupping her breast, his thumb flicking across the
nipple, his cock pressing against her thighs, his mouth capturing her
sighs and groans. Buffy opened her legs to him and threaded one hand
through his hair while they kissed. God, she loved kissing him. He
could be savage and tender and teasing, all in the blink of an eye.
He moved his hand down between her thighs separating her outer lips
so he could slide his cock over her clitoris. Buffy moaned and
bucked under him while sparks danced under her closed eyelids.

"You like that, baby?" Spike grunted, his mouth sliding over her
mouth and neck.

"Oh god, yes,"

His mouth returned to hers kissing her deeply as they continued to
rub together. Finally he lifted his head gasping out "Need you,
Buffy. Need you now."

Buffy raised her legs, inviting him in. He slipped inside her and
she wrapped her arms and legs around him moving to his rhythm until
once again they cried out in release.

He collapsed on top of her, drawing in deep lungfuls of calming air.
Rolling over, he pulled her on top of him. Her thighs tightened
around him keeping him trapped within her. He was still hard and
Buffy knew that if she wanted to, she could ride him until they both
came again. But Buffy truly believed that if that happened, she'd
become a gibbering idiot from orgasmic overload.

At last he softened enough that he slipped from her and Buffy sighed
and laid her head on his chest. She wanted to sleep. She wanted to
get back in the pool and bathe. Her stomach growled.

"I lost my fruit," she murmured sleepily.

She could feel his lips curve into a smile as he kissed the top of
her head. "I'll get you more fruit, love. I'll get you anything you
want."

She lifted herself up slightly and looked into his eyes.

"I want to go home."

Spike frowned slightly and pushed her hair back from her face.
"Can't wait to get away from me, eh, Slayer?"

Now it was Buffy's turn to frown. She pushed herself up further,
inadvertently giving Spike a lovely view of her small breasts.

"It's not that, Spike. I'm the Slayer. I have responsibilities.
While we're here making..." her voice trailed off and she blushed.
"While we're lost here, anything could be happening in Sunnydale.
Who knows what that little toad demon that sent us here is up to?
And we've been here, what? Four days? My mom and my friends must be
worried sick by now. I need to get back home."

Spike ran a finger over the silky skin of her collarbone. "And what
happens to us when we get back home?"

Buffy rolled away from him and stood up. Grabbing up his red shirt
again, she slipped it on and walked to the pool. She stood with her
arms wrapped around herself, her back to him, staring into the
steaming water. "I don't know."

"So this is what? A holiday shag?"

Buffy just shrugged. "I don't know what this is, Spike, except
something that shouldn't be happening." She glanced over at him and
away again. "Anyway, I thought you said I wasn't anything special."

He stood up and walked over to her. He slipped his arms around her
waist and drew her back until she was resting against him. "Yeah,
well I was lying, and you know it. You keep saying that this
shouldn't be happening between us, Buffy, but do you think this'll
all go away once we're back home?"

"It has to, Spike," she said in a barely audible voice.

He turned her around then, took her face in his hands and kissed
her. She resisted for about three seconds and then her arms slid
around his waist and she opened her mouth to his insistent tongue.
His hands slid down and grabbed the rounded globes of her ass,
pressing her tightly against his rapidly hardening cock.

Lifting his mouth from hers, he asked, "Do you want me again?"

"No," she lied.

He recaptured her mouth and pulled one of her thighs around his
waist. Bending his knees, he found her slick opening and easily
slipped inside. Buffy gasped, wrapped her arms tightly around his
neck and allowed him to pull her other leg around his waist lifting
her up until she was wrapped securely around him. Turning, he walked
back to their nest, knelt down, and lowered her onto his duster.
Still kneeling, he raised her hips with his hands and began to
thrust, his eyes never leaving her face.

"Look down, Buffy," he ordered softly. "Watch what I'm doing to you."

Buffy obediently looked down and watched his long, thick cock slowly
sliding in and out of her body. It was the most erotic thing she'd
ever seen and she felt her stomach muscles clench in reaction.

"We're perfect together, Love," he continued, his words coming out in
rhythmic grunts. "And when you have your Slayer strength back, we'll
knock Sunnydale down to bedrock."

Lowering her hips, he pressed closer to her, thrusting harder,
holding her head and kissing her fiercely. Buffy responded in kind.
She was getting sore, and she was tired, but she couldn't resist
him. And when he brought her to climax yet again, she cried out his
name and hugged him to her riding out the shudders that ripped
through her body.

As they recovered yet again, Buffy really began to worry about what
would happen once they were back in Sunnydale again.

And that was assuming that they could get back to Sunnydale again.

Chapter 10

They fell asleep again, and when they awoke they made use of the
pool to bathe. Both of them were getting very hungry, and a trip to
the outer cave showed that darkness had once again fallen and the
rain had finally stopped.

"It'll be muddy as hell out there tomorrow, Buffy, but we'll need to
leave and find food and water for you. And I need to hunt."

Buffy turned to look worriedly at him. "You okay for now?"

Spike smirked and ran a finger down her neck causing little goose
bumps to break out over her flesh. "Don't worry, love. Any bites I
give you will be purely recreational."

As if to prove his point, he leaned down and lightly nipped at her
shoulder. Buffy smiled and turned her face up to him. He
obligingly kissed her.

Turning back around to look out into the night, she couldn't keep a
sigh from escaping. She was so tired of being here. She was tired
of being hungry and cold and sleeping on the hard ground and being
dirty. Bathing in the pool was better than nothing, but without
soap, Buffy didn't feel clean.

As if reading her mind again, Spike wrapped his arms around her and
murmured. "Come on, love. Let's go back inside. In the morning
we'll start searching for a way out of here again." She nodded and
they returned to their haven to wait out the night.

The next morning they made love, bathed one last time in their pool,
and left the cave. Spike had been right; the footing was muddy and
hazardous, made even more so by the thick mist that covered the
hillside and valley floor. They returned to the forest, and Buffy
discovered that the fog had no apparent affect on Spike's vampire
senses as he led them unerringly through the woods to one of the
fruit trees. The storm had knocked the fruits off the tree, and
Buffy gathered as many as she could while Spike went off hunting for
his own breakfast. Another stream was nearby, the current running
fast with runoff from the storm. Buffy was thankful that the water
wasn't muddy and drank deeply, then filled the flask Spike had
handed her before leaving. She found a relatively dry rock and sat
down to eat her breakfast. She was on her third piece of fruit when
she heard a sharp animal cry in the distance. Spike had found his
own breakfast.

He returned to her, his cheeks flushed with the blood of his kill,
and sat beside her on the rock, his arm around her waist. They had
just started discussing which way they should travel when blinding
light surrounded them.

They cried out and clung to each other as a wave of vertigo overcame
them.

When the dizziness passed, Buffy looked around in amazement.
Jumping up, she exclaimed, "Are we home?"

Spike stood up more slowly, taking in the playground fixtures, the
benches, water fountain, and hedges. "Looks like it."

"How?"

He shook his head. "Don't know, love. I'm just glad we made it
back before sunrise." He nodded in the direction of the east and
Buffy saw that the sky was beginning to lighten.

"Spike, you better get home before you get caught in the sunrise,"
she said in alarm.

"We'd better make sure this really is Sunnydale, love, and
everything's back to normal." Moving close to her again, he set his
body and stuck out his chin.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked, confused by his actions.

Spike sighed. "Hit me, Slayer. Make sure you've got your strength
back."

"Oh," she said in comprehension. Instead of hitting him, however,
she walked over to one of the park benches and easily lifted it from
the ground. "Yep, everything seems to be in working order," she
smiled. "Now go on, Spike. Get home before it's too late."

"I think I'd like to know how long we've been gone before we split
up, Buffy."

Buffy considered his words and then nodded. "Yeah, everything looks
the same but it's best to know. Come on, there should be a
newspaper vending machine at the end of the corner." They took off
running, and Buffy delighted in her returned strength and speed.
They came to the corner just as the newspaper delivery truck was
leaving. Walking up to the vending machine, Buffy read the date on
the newspaper.

"Spike," she exclaimed. "It's tomorrow. I mean, the date is the
date of the day after the day we left."

She saw Spike's amused look at her rather convoluted sentence and
pouted, "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, love, I do."

She looked up at the rapidly lightning sky and turned to Spike. "We
were there what? Five days? But here, it was only about eight
hours."

"So it seems."

With each second that passed the sky grew lighter. Buffy glanced up
again and said insistently, "Spike, you have to go now!"

"Yeah, all right." He pulled her into his arms. "You coming by the
crypt later?"

No, Buffy thought. We're home now. It's all over and I can't be
with you like that again.

But when she opened her mouth she heard herself saying, "Yeah. As
soon as I can get there this evening."

Spike smiled, kissed her, gave her a swat on the ass and jogged off,
playing chicken with the rising sun.

Buffy sighed as she watched him disappear around a corner. When had
her evil twin, Vamp Ho Buffy, completely taken over her life? But
she knew exactly when. The first time they'd lain together on the
cold hard ground in the other dimension and he'd wrapped her in his
arms.

Or maybe even before that, but she didn't want to dwell on the
subject too much. Turning toward Sunnydale University, she headed
for a hot shower and her own soft, warm bed.

***

Willow was still sound asleep when Buffy crept quietly into the dorm
room. Grabbing up her pajamas, toiletry bag, and towel, she hurried
into the showers. She stood under the hot running water,
shampooing, conditioning, shaving and scrubbing until her skin was
pink and tender. Getting out of the shower, she toweled off, pulled
on her pajamas and brushed and flossed until she finally felt
clean. By the time she was finished, the stress and exhaustion of
the past several days caught up with her and she stumbled back to
the dorm room to collapse face down on her bed. She immediately
fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

***

"Buffy? Buffy? Wake up now, Buffy."

The words drifted into Buffy's consciousness and her eyes fluttered
opened to see the face of a very concerned Giles.

"Giles? What's up?" Buffy said groggily.

"Buffy, thank god you're awake. You've given us quite a fright."

"Why? What happened?"

"I couldn't get you to wake up," Willow's voice said
nervously. "You wouldn't wake up this morning, but I just figured
you'd had a rough night battling the forces of evil so I just let
you sleep in. But then you didn't wake up when I came back to the
dorm at noon, and you were still sleeping when I came back from the
library. I was afraid you'd been bitten by some kind of tsetse fly
demon or something, so I called Giles."

"Yes, we've been terribly worried. I have Xander and Anya back at
my apartment doing research in what could have caused your
condition. Willow stayed here with me in case I needed her
assistance."

Buffy sat up pushing her tangled hair out of her face. She hadn't
even bothered to dry it before falling into bed last night.

"What time is it?" she asked through a yawn.

"Past six," Giles said.

"In the evening?" Buffy asked shocked.

"Yes, so you can see why we were concerned. Can you tell us what
happened to make you sleep so deeply?"

"Yeah," she said, wondering how best to stall the explanation until
she was more coherent. She wasn't ready for them to know about
everything that had happened while she and Spike had been away.

"Look, I need to get dressed and get something to eat. I'm
starving. Could we meet back at your place in say, oh, about an
hour or so? Then I can tell you everything that happened. Okay,
Giles?"

"Well, yes, if you feel well enough now," Giles said stepping back
away from the bed. "Willow will stay with you just in case you need
her, all right?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you later, Giles."

Nodding, her Watcher left the dorm room.

"You sure you're okay?" Willow asked nervously. "I swear I didn't
do any spells that could have caused this, Buffy."   Her guilt over
the disastrous results of her last spell was still obviously preying
on her mind.

Buffy smiled at her friend as she began to gather her things
together. "I know that, Will. It really has nothing to do with
you." Once she had everything she needed she headed back over to
the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she returned to the dorm room.
She quickly dressed in a long denim skirt, scooped neck pale blue
sweater and knee high boots. She pinned her hair up, put on her
makeup and then turned to her worried roommate.

"Come on. Let's go get some dinner."

***

"That's it," Buffy said pointing at a picture in one of Giles's
books. "That's the toad demon I was fighting."

Everyone leaned over to look. Buffy had given them a carefully
expurgated version of her adventures over the past several, to her,
days.

"Oh, that's a Todalious Demon, Buffy," Anya said. "You didn't need
to attack it. They're non-violent."

"Non-violent?" Buffy exclaimed. "Anya, it knocked Spike and me
around like we were sock puppets and then sent us to another
dimension. We didn't even know if we would ever get back!"

Anya shrugged. "You attacked it, Buffy. Of course it defended
itself. And it brought you back when it was finished with its
business here."

"What business, Anya?" Giles asked in concern.

"Shopping, I'd imagine."

"Shopping?" a chorus of voices inquired.

"For what?"" Buffy asked.

"Mushrooms."

Giles removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You're
telling us that this, uh, Todalious Demon came here to buy
mushrooms?"

Anya nodded. "Portabello."

"Why?" Buffy asked, a thoroughly nonplussed look on her face.

"Because they like them and can't grow them in their home
dimension," Anya answered reasonably. "A merchant who comes here
and buys a few pounds of mushrooms would become moderately
wealthy." Turning suddenly to Xander, she said, "Xander, you could
do that. Then you wouldn't have to sell dry tasteless energy bars
to your friends. You could make lots of money and buy me many nice
things."

"Yeah, good idea, Anya." Xander said dryly. "There's only the
little problem of actually, you know, *getting* to the toad's
dimension."

"Oh," Anya said downcast. "Yes, that would be a problem."

"Plus, I understand the currency exchange rate between Earth and the
toad dimension really sucks right now," Willow quipped.

"So this Toadalicious demon didn't cause any problems while I was
gone?" Buffy asked ignoring the byplay.

"Not that we are aware of, Buffy," Giles answered. "And in point of
fact," he continued, "you were only gone a few hours by our
reckoning."

"Seemed longer to me," Buffy murmured.

Giles gave her a small smile and made a little sidewise nod. "Yes,
well having had to endure Spike's company for an extended period of
time, I can sympathize. I can only assure you that one does
eventually recover from the experience."

Buffy stood up abruptly. "Yeah. Well, now that I know that the
toad demon didn't cause any problems, I think I'll return to my
regularly scheduled patrol."

"If you wished to take tonight off, Buffy, I don't think Sunnydale
would suffer overmuch."

"Thanks, Giles," Buffy said as she headed to the door. "But I'm
fine. I'm all rested, clean, and fed, and I really need to go burn
off some energy. I'll see you guys later."

With that, she slipped through the door closing it tightly behind
her.

Chapter 11

Buffy drew in a deep breath and headed in the direction of Spike's
crypt. During dinner, Willow had casually asked Buffy if she were
going to see Riley that evening. Buffy had made the excuse that she
didn't know exactly when Riley would be back. Which was true, even
if it wasn't the reason she wasn't going to see Riley tonight. She
knew that tomorrow, or the next day, whenever she did see Riley
again, she would have to break up with him. It wouldn't be easy
because she really did care for him, and she was aware of how much
he cared for her. Plus, he had been her way into The Initiative,
and she really wanted to know exactly what they were up to. But
that was a worry for tomorrow, or the next day.

The sun had set and the vampires of Sunnydale would be on the prowl,
but for tonight, Buffy was concerned with only one particular
vampire. Maybe, at some distant point in the future, Buffy would
recover from the experience of Spike, but for now... Buffy's heart
stared pounding and her body warmed at the thought of Spike, and she
started walking faster.

She was halfway to Spike's crypt when she started to slow up and
finally stopped completely as the realization of where she was
going, what she was planning on doing when she got there, sank in.

Oh god, she whispered desperately to herself. I'm rushing to have
sex with Spike.

*Not just sex,* Buffy's irritating little internal voice told her.
*You want to see him, talk to him. You miss him, and it's only been
a few hours since you were with him.*

Buffy groaned, leaned against a tree, and lowered her head to her
hands. She couldn't argue with herself over that. She <i>did</i>
want to see him, be with him. She was well aware that he was
irritating and arrogant and, well, evil. But he could also be sweet
and considerate and funny. She'd come to know a whole different
Spike on their adventure. And when it came to making love... Buffy
flushed at the memory of their lovemaking.

But it all came back to one thing. Slayer - vampire.

I can't do this, she thought miserably. I *shouldn't* do this.
What would her friends think? What would Giles think? What would
her *mmother* think? She was seriously thinking about breaking up
with a perfectly nice, normal guy so she could date another
vampire. Well, okay, she was going to break up with Riley no matter
what; she'd decided that even before she'd had sex with Spike. But
she just couldn't continue with Spike.

She was the Slayer. She knew what was expected of her. Being with
Spike was wrong. She knew it. Not seeing him again was right. She
knew that too.

Why did she feel so miserable about doing the right thing?

She pushed away from the tree, glanced in the direction she'd been
heading, and determinedly turned in the opposite direction. She'd
do what she'd told her friends she was going to do. Patrol. And
when she was finished, she'd go back to the dorm, study, and go to
bed. She'd put Spike and what had happened between them out of her
mind. As for Spike, well surely he would realize she'd changed her
mind when she didn't show up.

When she found herself standing outside Spike's crypt thirty minutes
later, she sighed. Okay, she felt guilty about just leaving Spike
hanging, waiting for her to show up. She'd do the right thing and
tell him she wasn't going to be with him. That way she wouldn't
have her conscience nagging at her. Opening the door, she was
surprised to see the interior of the crypt was pitch dark.

"Spike?"

"Down here, love."

Buffy glanced around in confusion until her eyes adjusted enough to
the gloom for her to make out a glow coming from the floor near the
sarcophagus. Walking cautiously over to it, she saw that it was a
trapdoor leading down to a lower level.

"Spike? You down there?"

"Yeah. Come on down, Buffy."

When Buffy reached the lower level she saw Spike holding up a tape
measure against one of the walls of a chamber that appeared to be
carved out of the bedrock.

"What are you doing?"

He glanced at her with a smile. "Grab the end of this, will you,
love? I'm measuring to see where it'd be best to put the bed."

"Bed?" Buffy asked weakly.

"Well, yeah. Don't expect you'd want to use that sarcophagus
upstairs when you come to visit so I thought I'd fix this room up.
Bring in a nice comfy bed. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Spike, look, we have to talk," she said uncomfortably.

He looked at her and pulled the tape measure away from the wall.

"Don't tell me," he said with a sigh. "Let me guess. You've
changed your mind again. You're the Slayer; I'm a vampire. This is
wrong. Blah. Blah. Blah."

"It *is* wrong, Spike," Buffy said quietly, "and you know it is."

"Yeah, I do know it, Buffy. And I don't care." He came up to her
and laid his arms over her shoulders, clasped his hands together and
leaned into her. "I don't care if it's wrong," he repeated
softly. "I just want to be with you. And you want to be with me; I
know it."

"Spike-" But she got no further as he captured her mouth. Buffy's
knees betrayed her once again and she grabbed onto him for support.
His arms slid off her shoulders and he wrapped them around her
waist, drawing her tightly against him. Their mouths parted and
came together again as the frenzy of their passion grew. Spike
lifted her up and pushed her against a wall, his hand trailing down
to pull up her skirt. Buffy lifted her leg and wrapped it around
his waist as his hand slid up her thigh and over her hip. His mouth
caressed her neck and Buffy's gasping breath filled the small
cavern.

"Need you, Buffy," Spike whispered as his hand trailed around and
pushed aside the crotch of her panties. Buffy gasped as his fingers
slid over her clit and she titled her head to give him access as he
nibbled at her neck. "It's been too long since I've had you, love."

"This morning," Buffy panted.

"It was morning there," Spike said is a growling, passion-driven
voice. "Days have passed there since we were together. I can't be
without you for days, Buffy." He pushed a finger inside her. She
was so ready for him that he easily slid inside. He added another
finger, stroking her swollen inner flesh until she sobbed in need.
His hand left her then, and he fumbled at his zipper trying to free
himself.

The sound of the door upstairs slamming open and the shouts of male
voices broke through the haze of their lovemaking. Their heads
snapped to the side as a voice called out, "This crypt's occupied,
men. Fan out and search for the HST."

"Riley," Buffy whispered as she pushed Spike away. The sound of
Riley's voice had immediately cooled her ardor. She straightened
her clothes and then turned to Spike. "I'll get rid of them. You
stay here and keep quiet."

Spike nodded and glanced nervously up at the trapdoor. Buffy
hurried to the ladder and then hesitated a second. She came back to
Spike, took his head in her hands and kissed him. "Goodbye, Spike,"
she said softly with a hitch in her voice.

"Buffy," he whispered, desperately grabbing at her, but she slipped
from his grasp.

She scrambled up the ladder and shielded her eyes when several
flashlight beams blinded her. "Hey, guys! It's me."

"Buffy!" Riley hurried over to her and held out a hand to help her
out of the opening in the floor. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. I thought you guys were out
on marauders."

"Maneuvers," Riley answered with a smile. "And we were. We got
back about an hour ago. We reported in and Professor Walsh had an
emergency assignment for us. We're searching for a Polgara demon
that was reported in the area. Have you seen it?"

"Nope. Never heard of it," Buffy said casually leading Riley away
from the trapdoor.

"So what were you doing down there?"

"Down there? Oh, uh, just taking care of the crypt's occupant. You
guys don't have to worry about him."

"Good. So, you want to join us in our hunt?"

"No, thanks, Riley. I really need to get back to the dorm."

Forrest was standing next to a small TV set and as he turned to
leave, he lifted up his rifle preparing to smash the butt of the
rifle into the TV's screen.

"Stop!" Buffy shouted.

Riley looked at her in surprise.

"Uh, it's just that if that TV works, uh, Xander needs a new TV and
maybe he might want it."

"At ease, soldier," Riley officiously told Forrest.

Forrest scowled at Buffy and left the crypt with the rest of the
unit.

"He really doesn't like me, you know."

"Sure he does," Riley insisted.

Buffy shrugged, not really caring if Forrest liked her or not, and
followed the men into the cool night air. Outside the crypt, Riley
stopped her. "I'm not sure how long we'll be tonight, but if you
want to wait in my room..."

"No," Buffy said a bit too quickly. Calming down a bit, she
explained, "I really need to study tonight. Could we meet up
tomorrow for coffee or something?"

Riley gave her a pleased smile. "Sure, I have a free hour at ten.
We can meet for coffee then if you like."

"Yeah, okay. That's good for me too. I'll meet you at the
cafeteria, okay?"

"Okay." He glanced around to where his men were waiting for
him. "Look, I've got to go. See you tomorrow."

Buffy watched for a bit as the men moved away, and then looked once
more at the door to Spike's crypt. It was hard to resist the desire
she felt to return to Spike and finish what they'd started, but she
pushed past her feelings and left. She walked through the cemetery
with her arms wrapped tightly around herself as if holding herself
together.

Tomorrow she was going to break up with one boyfriend because she
was afraid she would never love him, and tonight she'd broken up
with another because she was afraid she would.

Welcome to my life, she thought miserably.

Chapter 12

Spike waited anxiously while Buffy headed off the goon squad that
had invaded his home. He hated the fear he felt every time he saw
one of the uniformed bastards, and he hated hiding behind the
Slayer's skirts. One day he would be free again, and on that day he
vowed he'd get his revenge.

At last he heard them leave and he relaxed slightly. It was then
that he began to worry about Buffy. Was she going to return to
him? He knew she'd been as worked up as he was, but she was a
stubborn little thing. She'd come to break up with him, but he'd
been able to wear down her resistance with a single kiss. He just
needed to keep her on her back until she was as addicted to him as
he was to her.

He cautiously climbed the ladder to the upper level, listening to
make sure the soldiers didn't suddenly return, and crept to his
front door. Pressing his ear against the thick wood, he tried to
make out any sounds from outside. He heard the murmur of voices and
sensed Buffy's presence. He decided to return to the lower level
for a while until the commandos had time to leave the area.

When he felt he'd waited long enough, he climbed up the ladder and
hurried to his door. A quick listen assured him that no one was
talking outside, and he couldn't sense Buffy's presence any longer.
Carefully opening the door, he slipped out, listening, scenting the
air. The commandos had gone one way but Buffy's scent led him in a
different direction.

Breaking into a loping trot, he followed the musky scent trail and
soon caught sight of Buffy. He slowed up as he watched her walk.
She had her arms wrapped around herself and was hunched in on
herself.

Poor lamb, he thought. Once she gives over, admits she wants me,
she'll be happy again. With that thought in mind, he ran up to her
and took her arm, turning her around.

"Didn't think you could get away from me that easily, did you, pet?"
he asked with a smile. He stopped smiling when she jerked her arm
out of his grasp.

"Go home, Spike. It's over between us."

"It's not, Buffy. You were all over me back there before your
soldier boy showed up."

Buffy closed her eyes briefly. "You need to get over what happened
in that other dimension. We were forced into a weird situation and
it made us crazy, but we're home now and things need to go back to
normal."

She turned around and started to walk away from him, but he reached
out and grabbed her arm again. The force of his body hitting a tree
startled him more than hurt him, and he felt his temper rise. He
jumped up, ready to hit back, but stopped. Not because the chip
wouldn't allow him to hurt her, but because he saw the tears in her
eyes.

"Leave me alone, Spike," she whispered. "I don't want you
anymore."

He watched silently as she ran from his sight.

***

Spike spent the next week or so in an alcoholic haze that he didn't
come out of until he was beaten bloody by a group of demons at
Willy's. They warned him against killing any more his own kind but
left him undusted, at least for now. He managed to get home just
before sunrise and spent several days healing.

After that, he spent less time drunk and more time hunting. The
first ones he tracked down were the demons that had beaten him up.
The fights and violence helped him keep his mind off of Buffy. He
saw her occasionally from a distance. Sometimes he'd follow her,
watching her as she patrolled or hung out with her friends. The
lack of Riley Finn in her entourage intrigued him, but he never
approached her. The memory of the tears in her eyes tore at him, and
he didn't want to cause her further pain.

Sometimes though, he raged at himself for allowing the memory of
tears to hold him back. Ever since he'd awakened to his new life,
he'd taken what he wanted. Tears had never stopped him. He'd
thrived on tears and pain and sex and fear and blood. But now he
couldn't take the thing he wanted most. Not just because she was
the Slayer he told himself, but because of the chip in his head.
He'd do just about anything to get that hated bit of wiring out of
his cranium.

***

Winter passed into spring and the buzz in the demon community
centered around two subjects. The first was that Maggie Walsh, the
bitch in charge of The Initiative, had been skewered by a Polgara
demon and was dead. He drank a silent toast in honor of the demon
that had put Maggie Walsh out of everyone's misery. The second was
that a powerful new unknown was killing and dissecting humans and
demons alike. Since very few of the bar's patrons would associate
with him - the rather gruesome deaths of the demons that had beaten
him up had not gone unnoticed and he was given a wide berth wherever
he went - Spike learned this news by overhearing the gossip in
Willy's.

Feigning disinterest, Spike listened carefully to the conversations
going on around him. He didn't care about the deaths of either
human or demon, but he knew that whatever the thing was that was
doing the killing, the Slayer would be on the hunt for it. Hearing
nothing that would either help or hurt the Slayer, he tossed back
the last of his blood chaser, got up, and left the bar.

**

It was late the next morning and Spike was snoozing on the
sarcophagus in his crypt when footsteps slowly approached. Just as
a hand was about to reach his throat, Spike grabbed it. Without
opening his eyes he said with amusement, "From the sound of those
massive mud flaps, I'd peg you as a demon. Which means you're in
for a world of..." He opened his eyes to see a huge Frankenstein-
like demon. "Pain," he finished, his eyes widening. He threw aside
his blanket, jumped off the sarcophagus, and looked in shock at the
massive monster.

"Spike, I want you to come with me."

"Do you?" he asked with a shrug. "Well, let's go then," he said
agreeably.   He acted as if he were turning to leave and then swung
back to punch the intruder in the gut. It was like punching
concrete. He shook his hand as it throbbed with pain. "Ow."

"Come," the monster said taking a step forward. Spike jumped
back. "You're going to help me with my problem."

"Why is that, exactly?"

It smiled in pleasure. "I'm going to help you with yours."

***

The lights were on in Giles's apartment. Spike hesitated for a
second, then straightened his shoulders, put on his Big Bad, and
turned the doorknob. The door was unlocked and he walked in
unimpeded by human or supernatural barriers. Giles sat in an
armchair reading a book while music played softly from the stereo.
A glass of amber liquid sat on a side table within easy reach.

"I wouldn't say no to a drink, Giles. Thanks."

Giles started up out of his chair and frowned when he saw Spike.
Taking off his glasses he demanded, "How did you get in here?"

"Through the door," Spike explained with a smirk. "It was unlocked.
You should watch that. Someone dangerous could get in."

"Or someone formerly dangerous and now merely annoying," Giles shot
back. "What do you want?"

Spike shrugged, walked over to the side table and took up Giles's
drink. "This will do for a start," he said, saluting Giles and
downing the whiskey. "Good stuff."

"You've had your drink," Giles said coldly. "Now get out."

Spike set the glass down and sighed. "Look, I didn't come here for
drinkies, mate. I've got important information I thought you might
like to know about. It concerns the Slayer."

"And this information would be?" Giles asked distrustfully.

"I know what's been mutilating the bodies that have been showing up."

"Thank you, Spike, but we're already aware of what it is."

"Oh. Then I guess you know what its plan is."

Giles hesitated. "Are you telling me you do?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm telling you."

"And how would you know this information?"

"Wouldn't mind another taste of your Scotch," Spike said with a
smirk as he settled himself comfortably in Giles's armchair.

"And I wouldn't mind driving a stake into your chest, Spike."
Spike's smirk turned into a scowl. "So if you wish to avoid that
fate, I suggest you tell me what you have to say and then get out."

Spike stood up again, a look of anger on his face. "Fine, Rupert.
You want me to leave; I'll go. And when your Slayer is lying dead
at your feet, you can blame yourself." He headed toward the door
with a swirl of black leather.

"Spike, wait!" Giles called after him.

Spike stopped and glanced over his shoulder at the Watcher.

Giles sighed. "Come back here and tell me what you know. If it's
useful, you'll be compensated."

Spike turned back around and said simply, "I had a visitor at my
crypt this morning."

***

"So this creature is planning the complete annihilation of the human
race?"

Giles was sitting in his chair starting intently at Spike who was
sitting is a chair across from him.

"Yeah, nice, innit? No more of you lot clogging up the roadways."

Giles glared at him. "Why are you telling me this, Spike?"

"Think, Giles. I'm a vampire. I may be shackled right now, but
eventually I'm going to get rid of my little affliction. And when I
do, humans will be back on the menu, won't they? But if this Adam
thing gets rid of all of you, it's pig's blood for eternity."

"Why did Adam come to you and tell you his plan?"

"He wants my help, doesn't he?" Spike explained. "He knows I was in
with you lot, and he thinks I can lure the Slayer into a trap. Get
her to lead the humans into a massacre."

"What did he offer you for your help with his plan?" Giles asked
shrewdly.

Spike hesitated, and then decided to stick with the truth. "He said
he'd take my chip out."

Giles sat bolt upright.

"Calm down, Rupert. If I was going to go along with him, I wouldn't
be telling you all about it, now would I?"

"Forgive me if I fail to put my full trust in your integrity,
Spike. I don't see why you would come to me when there's an
opportunity, however slight, to get your chip removed."

"I've already told you, Giles. No people equals pig's blood for
eternity. Not something I'm willing to sign up for."

Giles looked at him suspiciously for a minute and then stood up and
walked to his telephone.

"You calling the Slayer?" Spike asked, also standing up.

"Yes. She needs to know about this right away."

"Look, hold off a second." Spike reached into his duster pocket and
pulled out several computer disks. "Adam gave these to me as a lure
for the Slayer. I was supposed to use these as a means to get back
in good with you lot. There are supposed to be files, design
schematics, all kinds of tidbits about The Initiative on 'em. He's
says it's all good information about Maggie Walsh's little house of
horrors. There's even supposed to be information about him in
them." He shrugged. "I guess he's not too worried about anything
you find out about him. You can have Willow look at them, and she
can figure out if they're useful or not." He threw them down on the
coffee table and started to walk to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Me? I'm out of here. Mr. Bits is going to figure out I double-
crossed him, and I don't want to be around when he does, so I'm off
for parts unknown."

"You'll stay here and tell your story to Buffy first."

"Look, Rupert, I told you everything I know. Just tell Buffy
exactly what I told you."

"You can lead her to him."

"If I do, she'll get killed." He ran his hand through his hair
causing curls to pop up all over his head. "Look, you lot need to
make a plan before she confronts him. I hit the bastard and damned
near broke my hand. He's not your average demon, Giles."

"So that's what this is all about, is it? You're frightened of
him," Giles said derisively.

Spike took immediate umbrage. "Sod off, Giles. I'm leaving because
the Slayer wants no part of me. I told you everything I know. I
gave you the disks, now I'm off."

"And I'll send Buffy right after you. I don't know what you're up
to Spike, but until Willow has had a chance to look over those disks
and we've had a chance to investigate your story, you're not going
anywhere."

Giles turned his back and Spike glared impotently at him. This was
not going according to plan. He'd known the Watcher was alone, that
was why he'd come in. He was just going to tell his story, drop off
the disks, and leave. He watched anxiously as Giles said into the
receiver, "Joyce? Giles here. Is Buffy still there?"

Chapter 13

The door opened some ten minutes later and Buffy breezed in. "Okay,
Giles, I'm here. What's the big emergency?" She stopped abruptly
when she spotted Spike, her face paling visibly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Not my idea, Slayer," he told her in a toneless voice. "I told
Giles everything I knew, but he wouldn't let me leave."

Buffy looked over at her Watcher who stood in the doorway of his
kitchen, a cup of tea in his hand. "Giles?"

"Spike's met our friend Adam."

Buffy's eyes flew back to Spike. "Are you okay?" she asked
anxiously. Her eyes flew to her Watcher again and she added, "I-I
mean, Adam's been killing everything he sees."

Spike tilted his head to the side and studied Buffy intently.
"Yeah, I'm fine."

Giles came into the living room, frowning slightly. "Tell her what
you told me, Spike."

Spike repeated his story, answering Buffy's questions and finally
pointing to the computer disks that lay on Giles's coffee table.

"So, we need to get Willow on this ASAP," Buffy said.

"ASAP, Slayer? Is that jargon from your soldier boyfriend?" The
sneer was evident in Spike's voice.

"Shut up, Spike."

"Yes, please do, Spike," Giles chimed in. Looking at Buffy he
said, "I left a message on the answering machine in your dorm room,
Buffy, but she hasn't-" At that moment the phone rang and Giles went
to answer it.

Buffy and Spike sat in tense silence while Giles spoke on the
phone. Buffy seemed nervous in his presence, which intrigued Spike.

"Ah yes, Willow, good. We were just talking about you. We need
your computer and your expertise. Yes, of course. Outside your
dorm. Very well."

He hung up and said to Buffy, "I need you to go pick up Willow."

Buffy's eyes widened. "Me? Giles, you know that cars and Buffy are
unmixy things."

"Yes, well as much as I hate to turn the keys to my car over to
Spike again, he can drive you."

"Oh, no. That's really not a good idea," Buffy said with a hint of
panic in her voice. "Why don't you go pick her up? I mean we. You
and me. We could go together to pick her up."

"I daren't drive right now, Buffy," Giles explained. "I've had a
couple glasses of Scotch."

"Yeah, you really should watch that, Rupert. Sitting here alone and
drinking. Turn you into an alcoholic, that will," Spike mocked.

"Shut up, Spike," Buffy said again automatically.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but remained silent.

Grabbing her jacket up from where she'd thrown it across the back of
the couch, she sighed. "Come on. Let's go pick up Willow."

Spike eyed her as she walked to the front door and then took the
keys that Giles was handing him.

"Wreck this car, Spike, and I swear I *will* stake you."

Spike smirked, snapped him a little two-fingered salute and followed
Buffy out the door.

He made the obligatory penis reference when he saw the sleek red
convertible. Buffy just rolled her eyes and walked around to the
passenger door and then tensed when Spike unlocked the door and held
it open for her.

"I can open my own door, Spike."

"Yeah. Just get in, Buffy."

She got in the vehicle, being careful not to brush against him,
Spike noted, and buckled her seat belt. Spike closed the door and
walked around to the driver's side. He got in, adjusted the seat,
and slipped the key in the ignition. The car purred to life, and he
caressed the steering wheel.

"Not a bad car, really," he said in appreciation.

"Don't even think about stealing it, Spike," Buffy said dryly.

Spike grinned at her and put the car into reverse backing it out of
the carport. He drove more slowly than usual, wanting to stretch
out the time with Buffy. He hadn't wanted to see her tonight,
hadn't wanted to put himself though the pain of being near her and
not touching her, but now that she was here, he was going to take
full advantage of his time with her. For her part, Buffy sat
quietly looking out the side window. When Spike reached the stop
sign at the end of Giles's block, she looked over at him and
asked, "Why are you really doing this?"

"Because you're a lousy driver and Giles is drunk."

Buffy glared at him. "That's not what I meant and you know it. Why
did you come and tell us about Adam?"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and then returned his
attention to the road. "I told you the first time we teamed up that
I like this world just fine the way it is. I mean, come on, Slayer,
have you ever seen a demon playing footie? Pathetic."

He saw a brief smile cross Buffy's lips, but then it disappeared.
"But you could get your chip out. I thought that's what you wanted."

"Yeah, it is." He hesitated for a moment and then continued. "Let's
say I went along with Adam - helped him annihilate the human race.
After it was all over he would either keep his promise to remove my
chip, or he'd decide I'd outlived my usefulness and dust me. I know
demons, Buffy. They aren't big on making good on their promises.
Now let's say he did remove my chip. The other thing about demons
is they aren't big on letting go of minions unless they kill them
themselves. And I have no desire to spend the rest of my unlife as
a minion to Maggie Walsh's bouncing baby boy."

"Oh."

They were silent again until Spike said softly, "So, how have you
been, Buffy? You look good."

"I'm okay. You?"

"Livin' la dolce vita, love."

Quiet filled the car's interior once again until Spike said, "I've
missed you, Buffy."

"Spike, don't."

"Look, I know there's no future for us. You've got your Captain
Cardboard, and-"

He stopped when Buffy looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"We broke up."

Now it was Spike's turn to be surprised. "You did? When?"

Buffy shrugged nonchalantly, though Spike could sense her
discomfort. "The day after, uh..."

"The day after you broke up with me?"

"The day after we got back from the other dimension," she said
firmly.

Spike smirked. "So soldier boy couldn't make the grade after me, eh?

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You really aren't all that, you know."

"Yeah? Want to put that to the test, love?" They had entered
Sunnydale's business district, and Spike suddenly pulled the car
into the lot of a drive-through branch of the Bank of Sunnydale.
Ignoring Buffy's protests, he pulled around to the back of the bank
where the car was hidden from the view of oncoming traffic. After
he turned off the car engine, he twisted in his seat, reached over,
and trailed the back of a finger down the side of Buffy's face.
"Prove to me I'm not all that."

"Spike, stop it." Her voice was slightly breathless.

"Afraid, Buffy? You told me you don't want me anymore. Prove it to
me."

He felt a shiver pass though Buffy's body, and he could smell her
reaction to his touch. Even all these weeks later, his slightest
touch made her ready for him.

"Don't touch me, Spike," she said in a quavering voice. She reached
over to push him away, but he captured her hand and brought it to
his lips pressing a tender kiss to the back of her hand. Buffy
closed her eyes, and he could hear her heartbeat accelerate. He
turned her hand over and pressed another kiss into the palm.
Letting go of her hand, he found the button that released her seat
belt and pressed it. The belt retracted and Spike slipped his arm
around her waist. He lowered his head to her neck and lightly
kissed the tender skin. Buffy gasped and moved her head aside
giving him greater access. He trailed kisses up her neck, over her
jaw and up to her mouth where he gently bit her lower lip. She
moaned and opened her mouth for him to plunder. He accepted her
invitation and kissed her deeply, his tongue entwining with hers.
She grasped the sleeve of his duster and turned into him.

His hand slid up from her waist to cup her breast, pinching the
hardened nipple between thumb and forefinger. The tiny whimpers and
moans that escaped from Buffy's throat drove him on and he
unbuttoned her shirt. Slipping his hand inside, he pushed up her
bra and lowered his head to take her breast into his mouth. His
hand slid between her legs and he began to stroke her through her
slacks. Buffy thrust up into his hand, keening cries of need filling
the darkened interior of the car. Lifting his head from her breast,
he gasped, "Let's get into the back seat, love."

He knew immediately that he'd made a mistake. Buffy's eyes flew
open and she pushed him away forcefully. Straightening her clothes
and refastening her seat belt, she said with a trembling voice,
"We're not doing this, Spike. Let's just go get Willow."

Spike's hands curled in frustration, and his cock throbbed in
painful need. He turned angrily in his seat, started the car, threw
it into gear, and pressed down on the accelerator causing the car to
fishtail as he pulled out of the lot.

"Slow down!" Buffy yelled as he raced down the street. He slowed
down not only because his chip was beginning to fire a bit, but also
because, even as angry and frustrated as he was, he really had no
desire to kill Buffy in a car accident. The remainder of the trip
was made in frosty silence.

When they pulled up in front of Stevenson Hall, Spike saw a blonde
girl standing next to Willow. Buffy released her seatbelt and
scooted forward, pulling the back of her seat up so that the two
girls could get into the back seat. The blonde entered first and
Willow followed.

"Hi, Buffy! You remember Tara don't you? From my Wicca group? We
were practicing some spells and-" She stopped babbling when she
spotted Spike at the wheel.

"Spike!"

"Red."

She looked wide-eyed at Buffy who explained tensely, "Giles couldn't
come."

"Oh."

Spike's senses were still filled with the scent of Buffy's arousal,
but as the girls settled in, another scent reached him. He looked
from Willow to the girl she'd called Tara and back to Willow again.
Willow cast a nervous glance at him and he raised an eyebrow. His
eyes drifted back to Tara, and he gave Willow a knowing smirk.
Willow paled under his scrutiny, cast a panicked look at Buffy who
was refastening her seatbelt, and turned pleading eyes to him.

"Spike! Are we going or do you plan to sit here all night?"

Spike scowled at Buffy, but turned back around and drove off. As
they drove, Buffy filled Willow in on the situation. By the time
they reached Giles's apartment, Willow was eager to look at the
computer disks.

Spike followed the girls into the apartment and perched on one of
the stools that stood in front of Giles's counter. Willow turned on
her computer and slipped one of the disks into the floppy drive
while Tara hovered at her side. As the files opened, Tara said, "It
looks like gibberish."

"Rats," Willow said in disappointment. "They're encrypted."

Spike snorted. "You didn't think he was going to give you something
easy, did you? You can fix 'em, can't you, Red?"

"Crack a government encryption code on my laptop? Easy as really
difficult pie."

"How long is it going to take?" Buffy asked impatiently.

"I don't know, Buffy. Hours? Days? Anyone suggesting months would
not be accused of crazy talk."

"Adam wanted us to have this information. It can't be that hard."

Willow just shrugged. "I'll do the best I can, Buffy."

Buffy had been pacing since they'd entered the apartment and casting
furtive glances at Spike. The scent of her arousal was still strong
and it teased at Spike so that his need for her never lessened.
Realizing that it was probably going to take some time before Willow
would crack the encryption code, Spike stood up gathering his coat
around him to hide his bulging erection and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Buffy asked sharply.

"Home," he answered without stopping. "You lot don't need me
anymore." He exited the apartment, slamming the door behind him.