Title: Conditional Response
Author: NyxMne Chaosis
Email: magmyr@umailme.com
Distribution: SFA
Rating: NC-17 (for sexual content)
Setting: Post-Lover's Walk (Season 3)/Pre-Harsh Light of Day (Season 4)
Summary: Sequel to "Willow's Query" of the Query Series. Willow is held hostage by Spike for what seems like an eternity
Disclaimer: Joss owns all.
Authors Note: Events in this story occur during the same timeframe as events from "Oz's Query" to "Xander's Query"

Part Four


Willow woke with a start, as the realization of her strange intimacy with a certain vampire foregrounded in her dreams. The weight of an arm about her waist confirmed that she was not alone in the canopy bed.

Carefully she sat upright, all the while watching Spike. He slept partially on his side, leaning into her body. His other arm was folded beneath his neck and supported his head. His lips were parted slightly, all tension drained from his lean face. Willow's heart fluttered with sudden excitement at the possibilities that the sleeping vampire provided.

If she was careful enough, moved slowly enough, she could slip out of the bed and could explore the house. This was her chance to find a way to escape.

Stealthily she began to inch her way toward the edge of the bed, but was stopped by Spike's arm pulling her back to him.

"Off somewhere?" he mumbled without bothering to open his eyes.

Willow's heart sank. "To the bathroom... to, you know," she replied sadly.

"I can tell when you lie," he said. Opening his eyes, Spike lifted his head and looked at her. "I can smell it."

"Of course," she sighed, but then found herself curious. "What does it smell like?"

"Salt and apples mostly," he replied.

Time became meaningless to Willow. She had asked Spike how long she had been in the house, but he refused to tell her. After a while, she stopped asking, giving up any hope of learning what day it was, let alone what month. The hope of being rescued was also vanquished.

Time also revealed that Spike had no immediate intention of turning her into a Vampire. Variations of Spike's feeding soon proved that the vampire regarded her as entertainment. However, Willow found herself stunned by his ability to abstain from sexual intercourse despite the erotic games he played with her.

Some nights she awoke to his caresses, his fingers turning inside her, and her body responding despite herself. She decided that when unconscious, the self is abandoned and only the body remains to respond to external stimuli. Her cheeks flushed, the flesh engulfing Spike's fingers swollen and slippery with her arousal, she found herself unwilling to stop him and disgusted at herself for it. Most of these nights, she awoke near climax, and when she began to moan with his every stroke, he would pull out of her leaving her unsatisfied and sinking his fangs into her neck or shoulder.

Other nights, she would awake to find a coolness lapping at a fierce heat trapped in her loins. Uncertain in her semi-conscious state, her hands would flutter over her body, acknowledging the hem of her nightgown lying about her hips. Her fingers would then rest upon Spike's short-cropped hair as his mouth tasted her sex, his tongue toying with her clit.

Then her hips would move with his rhythm, her thighs squeezing slightly with every new plateau of pleasure. Just when she wished he would push his fingers inside her and abate the fire of tension in her, he would pull away and sink his fangs into her thigh. And though the piercing intrusion of his cold fangs into her warm flesh elicited a gasp from her, the feed became less and less painful until only her unsatisfied yearnings remained.

In all this time, Spike never attempted to kiss her on the mouth again. He never attempted intercourse with her either. It was as if he was waiting, but waiting for what? And still, Willow did not know for what purpose Spike worked his seduction on her.

Willow lay on the sofa wrapped in the warmth of the ornate quilt. The Wizard of Oz flickered in black and white, and she blinked lazily at the momentary lapses of snow that flashed across the tiny tv screen. In the armchair next to her, she heard Spike shift.

Turning onto her side, Willow watched him despite the sleep that weighed heavy on her eyelids. He sat as relaxed as his muscles would let him. His head tilted to one side, he rested a lean cheek against the palm of his sculpted hand. The light from the tv danced in his blond hair, flickering white dots of light in the blue of his eye.

Inhaling deeply, Willow imagined herself climbing onto his lap and straddling his waist. In her imagining, her fingers roamed over his firm chest and stomach before addressing the button and zipper of his denims. Without any regard for his wants, she freed his shaft from the bonds of his clothing and promptly impaled herself on its hardness...

Willow startled herself. Wide-eyed, she tossed the quilt aside and pulled herself into an upright position.

"That wizard gives me the willies too," Spike said, regarding her inquisitively.

As the heat abated in her flesh and her mind considered her wondering imagination, Willow tried to grapple with her sudden yearning. Spike was slowly wearing down her defenses and awakening strong lusty urges. His seduction was evident in the way he sexually tormented her, bringing her to heights of unbridled passion but leaving her unsatisfied... and himself.

She noted his own frustration, yet he continued to abstain from sexual intercourse. In other ways he had forced himself upon her except in this one way. Still, she did not know why. Was it part of some big plan? Or, was it just a game? She had to know.

Clearing her throat, Willow asked him, "Have I been... well-behaved... for a captive?"

"In more ways than you could ever know," Spike sang in reply.

"Do you... would you reward... I mean, grant me a wish for my good behavior?" Willow asked, frowning at her choice of words.

"Do I look like I genie in a bottle?" Spike said indignantly.

"No! Of course not," Willow said. "I... I just think that because I've been so-welled behaved... you know, avoiding the escapage routine, that I could... that you could truthfully answer a question for me."

"Oh, so now I'm a liar?" Spike asked. "What's a person to do with all this flattery?!"

"I didn't mean it that way," Willow said apologetically. Exasperation flooded her easily in her weakened state. "I just want to know why you're keeping me here."

"Oh, that!" Spike exclaimed, as he sat forward and addressed her more intimately. "The answer's not very exciting. Nothing meaningfully or interesting like good old fashioned revenge. I'm afraid it's nothing more than just... entertainment. At the moment's it's purely mine of course, but it could be yours as well."

"Entertainment?" Willow asked nervously.

"Have to have something to do until Dru snaps out of her insaner-than-usual fit," Spike explained as he leaned back in his chair. "What better than a little red-headed obsession to pass the time?"

"So this has nothing to do with Buffy?"

"That's the bonus," Spike sang. "Watching your friends all worried and in mourning. It's tasty... but not as tasty as you," he growled.

In silence, Willow tried to fathom why the vampire would put so much effort into abducting her and keeping her captive. It seemed like a lot of work for something that was purely entertainment.

"Did you have all of this planned from the beginning?" she asked him.

"Nope," Spike replied. "I originally planned to torture you."

"Oh," Willow gasped. "And what changed you're mind?

"When I first fed off you," Spike began, "there was a familiar smell about you, something akin to... arousal. The rush of fear does that for some people. So, I thought I'd nurture it. Has it blossomed yet?"

Speechless, Willow shook with a fit of trembling. Fidgeting with her dress, she suddenly became aware of her thighs pressing against one another as she shifted nervously on the sofa. A wave of heat engulfed her. Though she said nothing, her mind screamed over and over again: Yes!




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