Chapter Nineteen
“That’s it!”
Five pairs of eyes turned to look at the excited witch, now bouncing up and down on the couch as the solution came to her.
“William!” she shouted, gleefully.
“I think that ship has sailed, Red,” Spike growled. “Don’t need to keep using that name anymore. Whatever’s left of those gits, they more than know who and what I am.”
“No, no, not them,” she hastened to explain. “You can be William – Somebody Giles knows from before he came to Sunnydale, or a distant relative, or…I don’t know…think something up. You’re evil – you’ll think of a good lie. No offense,” she said quickly when Spike quirked an eyebrow at her.
“Non taken, pet,” he responded, waiting for the rest of her explanation.
“See, here’s the thing. Only those lab people know William as Buffy’s cousin. To anybody else in Sunnydale you’re just another Englishman who came to live here for awhile and…and…you met Buffy, and you started dating…and, do you see where I’m going with this?”
“You want me to STAY William? Pretend I’m some kind of poncy nancy-boy for the rest of my unlife?” Spike’s horror and dismay were so evident that even Xander had to laugh.
“No, no – you don’t have to be JUST like William. That was to fool Riley and his men. But you can be William…Smith…or whoever. Buffy’s boyfriend who helps her out with Slaying. It’ll be like a secret identity!” Willow was so pleased and excited with her idea she was practically glowing.
“Don’t you see? It’s perfect! ‘William’ has already been here long enough for people to remember seeing him around, but no one knows we were saying he was Buffy’s cousin, or that Giles was her uncle. It’ll just be like he decided to stay here because he and Buffy started dating. The Council won’t have any reason to know he’s really a vampire. They don’t care if slayers have boy friends, do they?”
Giles looked up at Willow’s eager expression and then at Buffy’s hopeful face. He took a quick look at Spike and saw that the vampire recognized the real issue.
“Actually, they do care about that, but I think they have long since given up trying to control this particular Slayer’s love life.”
He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“The issue is the claim. While the telepathic connection between Spike and Buffy was extremely useful in this particular instance, it does give one of the world’s most dangerous” He glared as Spike visibly puffed up with pride at hearing himself referred to as “most dangerous” and quickly added, “and most arrogant vampires to have an unhealthy amount of control over the woman chosen to eliminate his kind.”
He looked at the two blonds, still standing close enough to be touching, although no longer wrapped around each other and he sighed audibly.
“While another vampire would never have been my choice as my Slayer’s next…boy friend…if I learned nothing from her relationship with Angel, it is the futility of trying to control her heart. I will put up no objection to the relationship, but I’m afraid I must insist that you,” he looked pointedly at Spike, “do whatever is necessary to remove this thing.”
“You want me to dust m’self?”
The Watcher glared at him briefly, before muttering, “Don’t tempt me.”
A glare from Buffy stopped Xander’s automatically raised hand before he could finish volunteering for the job.
When she started to object, Giles waved his hand in the air dismissively, “Obviously not an acceptable option for my Slayer, so we must discuss the next best thing.” He looked at the two of them, allowing a small measure of sympathy to soften his face as he saw their tightly clenched hands.
“Do you think that time and distance can make this unintended claim go away?”
“Don’t really know, Watcher. “S not like I make a habit of going around claiming slayers. I jus’ know between vampires the claim will fade if the two are separated for long periods of time. It has to be renewed occasionally to stay active.”
“Can I be the first to say, I REALLY don’t want to know what you do to renew it?” Xander held up his hand again, making a disgusted face.
“I can tell you, Xander-“ began Anya in a chirpy voice. “ They have to—mmph!” Her boyfriend’s hand placed firmly over her mouth prevented him from having to picture the renewal.
“Ahn, which part of ‘I really DON’T want to know’ wasn’t clear to you?”
“And,” the Watcher ignored them and removed his glasses again, polishing them vigorously, “ if I understand Buffy correctly, you have not done that as yet?”
“No,” the vampire answered shortly. “We haven’t.”
“Then I believe a long trip is in order for William,” Giles said firmly. “Perhaps a trip back to the mother country to make arrangements for moving to Sunnydale.”
Buffy’s face wore a resigned pout, matching the equally unhappy, but equally resigned expression on the vampire.
“How long to do you think it will take?” she asked meekly.
“Dunno, love. I guess when we can’t feel each other any more, we’ll know it’s gone.”
“Where will you go? You aren’t really going to go back to England are you?” she asked anxiously.
“Nah, I’ll run down to LA and annoy Peaches for a while. Maybe try to earn some dosh to keep William in style until he gets a job.” The expression on Spike’s face made it obvious how thrilled he was with the prospect of working.
“That’s settled then. Spike…er…William will take a trip and when he returns he and Buffy can begin seeing each other. That will explain his presence with her every night as she goes about her slaying duties, in case anyone is watching and reporting back to the Council.”
He looked at his surrogate daughter and said softly, “This really is the best thing to do, Buffy. If the council should somehow find out that William is indeed, Spike, they may not respond with the same vigor as they would if they knew he had claimed you. And,” he added with a hard look at the vampire, “I think it is important that they continue to assume you are harmless to humans.”
“Yeah, yeah. I got it. The Big Bad is history – as far as the Council of Wankers is concerned.”
The pained expression on his face made Buffy giggle in spite of herself.
(Don’t you dare laugh at me, Slayer. If you ever needed proof of how much I love you,…)
(I don’t need proof, Spike. Not as long as we can still feel each other.)
(Speaking of feeling…) He moved closer to her and pulled her back against his chest, facing the other humans in the room.
“If that’s settled, then, the Slayer and I have some ‘good-byes’ to say before I leave tonight.”
He stared defiantly at the two men glaring back at him until the older one sighed and nodded.
“Just be careful, please. Do not do…anything…that might make the claim stronger.”
“ ‘M not stupid, Watcher,” Spike growled as Buffy blushed and nodded her head. He didn’t deign to notice the dark-haired young man and his hate-filled eyes, although he felt Buffy flinch when she saw the anger there.
(I’m telling you, pet, he’s jealous. I could be a bloody Boy Scout and he’d still be hating’ me.)
(I know. But, he’s my friend. I want him to be happy for me, and all he’s ever done is tell me how bad my choices are.)
(Well, gotta say, pet. He’s been right up till now.)
The shared laughter as they walked toward the door, as well as the light punch to Spike’s arm told the onlookers that another private conversation had taken place. They watched as Spike put his coat over his head and prepared to dash to the nearest manhole. He pecked Buffy on the lips and said, “I’ll beat you home,” as he went out the door and ran for shelter.
With a wave over her shoulder, Buffy took off in the other direction, sprinting toward Revello Drive in the sunshine.
There was silence within the room for several seconds until Xander exploded in barely suppressed rage.
“How can you condone this? Spike has tried to kill us all – multiple times! He gave me a concussion. He put a bottle in your face!” he turned to Willow. “Don’t tell me you weren’t terrified.”
“I was. But the more I think about it, he was really only trying to get his girl friend back. I don’t think he would have hurt me. And he could have killed you, and he didn’t. He carried you back to the factory and put you on a bed.”
“As a HOSTAGE! G-man, help me out here. Think about when Angelus was torturing you. Spike was right in the thick of it, wasn’t he?”
“Actually, Xander, he was in a wheel chair. And he did what he could to help me, in spite of being at Angelus’ mercy.”
“He’s a vampire,” Xander ground out. “He has no soul, he can’t love and he can’t be trusted.”
“Actually, vampires can love quite well,” Anya spoke up. “I am surprised that Spike is willing to let the claim lapse. It is meant to be an eternal bond. He must really love Buffy if he’s willing to let it go just to keep her safe. It’s quite unselfish of him, really.”
The Watcher turned and looked at Xander’s girl friend as though seeing her for the first time.
“You KNEW vampires could love without their souls?”
“Of course, I did. Ex-vengeance demon here. I’ve cursed plenty of unfaithful vampires for their lovers. That’s all Council propaganda that being soulless means they can’t love, or be trusted. All you ever see here are fledglings – or that nasty Master who was probably certifiable after all those years underground.”
“But, but…”
“They ARE violent, and let’s face it, they need our blood to live, so really not something you’d want to welcome to the neighborhood; but they’re all different. Just like people. Some are actually quite…well, ok, maybe ‘sweet’ isn’t the right word, but…tolerable. Very, very tolerable!”
Anya beamed at the humans staring at her, quite pleased with herself and her grasp of vocabulary.
“Anya,” Giles began hesitantly, “What else can you tell me about vampires and demons?”
“Lots of things – you learn a lot in a thousand years.” She smiled at him brightly.
“And why have you never told us these things?” He struggled to sound patient and kinds.
“No one ever asked me,” she responded immediately. “You all act like you think I’m stupid.”
Giles and Willow both looked down, ashamed to admit how right the ex-demon was.
“I must apologize for having given you that impression, Anya,” the Watcher said sincerely. “And, when you have the time, I would be most appreciative of any information you could give me to add to what I’ve learned in the past few days.”
“Sure, Giles!” Anya’s face lit up at the attention the attractive older man was giving her. “Any time. It’s not like either one of us has a job or anything like that.”
He winced at the reminder of his currently unemployed status, but smiled tightly and agreed, “Well, good then. We will plan to get together soon then.”
Willow was standing by herself, chewing thoughtfully on her lip.
“I wonder what it’s going to be like for them?” she said, half to herself.
“You wonder what what will be like for who?”
“Buffy and Spike. For weeks they’ve been able to communicate whenever they wanted to just by thinking at each other. Been able to have private conversations if they needed to – can you imagine how helpful that would be in a fight? To be able to talk to each other without…and to be able to share…” She blushed bright red and stopped quickly.
“It just seems to me that there would be a level of… of …intimacy,” she ignored the strangled sound Xander made, “that could be hard to give up. I know I wouldn’t want to lose something like that.”
Giles sighed and removed his glasses again. “I am sure you are quite correct, Willow. Unfortunately for Buffy and Spike, she is the Slayer and must make some sacrifices in the pursuit of her duty.”
Chapter Twenty
Buffy arrived, somewhat breathlessly, at her front door just as her mother was leaving for the gallery.
“Buffy! Where have you been? I was worried sick. And when Xander said he couldn’t find Giles or Willow…”
“I’m okay, Mom. It was a long night, but we’re all okay. Spike was shot, but we fixed him an-“
“Shot! Who shot him?” Her mother’s eyes narrowed. “Was it that supercilious soldier?”
Buffy gaped at her mother’s possessive anger.
“Uh, yeah, actually, it was – but it’s okay!” she hurried to add as her mother looked like she was planning to head for the Sunnydale University campus with her axe in hand. “Spike took care of it himself.”
“Oh. Well, OK, then.”
Buffy had to laugh at the almost disappointed look on her mother’s face. Not for the first time, she wondered if her mother was a potential slayer who just hadn’t been called before she aged out of the window.
“Go to work, Mom. We’re all fine, just really, really tired.”
“Then you should probably spend the day in bed,” her mother said; quickly amending her statement when she noticed Buffy’s blush. “Sleeping! You should spend the day sleeping!”
“That’s the plan,” Buffy said, trying to look as innocent as possible. “Lots of good, restful sleep. I’ll fill you in on what happened when you get home tonight.”
Her mother rolled her eyes in an excellent imitation of her daughter and walked toward her car.
“I’m counting on that, young lady. I want to know every detail.”
Already mentally adding up the details she planned to skip, Buffy entered the house and went immediately toward the kitchen. Just as she reached the entrance, Spike burst through kitchen door, smoldering under his coat. Buffy quickly grabbed a towel and ran water on it. She patted him down with the soaking towel until she was sure he wasn’t going to combust on her, then laughed at the wet curls all over his head.
“Something funny about me almost burning up, Slayer?” he growled, reaching for the wet towel with one hand.
Buffy laughed and danced out of reach. He grabbed for her, catching the edge of her shirt and pulling her back toward him. He used the other hand to flick the wet towel into the sink as he pulled her into his body. Buffy’s hands slid up around his neck and she lifted her face to his.
“I just thought you looked cute with your hair all curly and wet. Very William.”
“William is going to haunt me for the rest of my un-life, isn’t he?” he said with a sigh, leaning down to graze her lips with his.
“I hope so,” she whispered, catching his lower lip in her teeth and pulling on it gently. Her warm breath floated over his face and he groaned as he fastened his lips on hers. Standing in her mother’s kitchen, Buffy felt the fear that had tormented him while she was gone as it gradually left his body. Their lips and tongues slowly gave physical expression to the emotions flowing from one to the other, and Buffy began to sense the true measure of what she was going to be losing when the claim no longer existed.
With a moan, she melted into his body, as though she could maintain the feelings by becoming a part of him. Strong arms crushed her into his hard chest as he tried to pull her even closer, his hands clutching at her back and hips hard enough to leave bruises.
Her hands came down from his neck and slid up his back under his tee shirt, stroking the cool skin she found there and kneading the muscles under it. The heat from her hands caused the vampire to hiss with barely restrained passion as he picked her up and rested the damp warmth he could feel through two layers of denim against his aching length. She gave a soft moan as she felt him pressing against her and she pushed back, seeking more contact.
With a sudden gasp, he pushed her away, setting her on the counter in front of him and moving out of her reach.
“Spike? Wha—what’s wrong?” Her voice trembled and he could feel the insecurity behind her question radiating through the claim. He shook with the need to reassure her of his desire.
“Nothing’s wrong, love. It’s jus’ I can’t be close without wanting to touch you and I promised the Watcher we wouldn’t do anything to reinforce the claim.”
“Don’t you have to bite me to renew it?” Her voice was a whine, and she knew it but couldn’t control it. “Can’t we just make love without the biting?”
Fear darkened her eyes as she asked quickly, “You CAN have sex without biting, can’t you? Please tell me you can.”
“Of course I can, pet. Would never bite you without permission. But I don’t know exactly what it takes to renew a claim. Who knew that a claim made by two people who were under a spell and really didn’t mean it would take? Would have thought it would vanish with the spell.”
“You didn’t mean it?” Her voice was very small and the insecurity came flooding back.
(Bloody hell! How can such a desirable woman be so fuckin’ insecure about it? That asshole Angelus should be castrated!)
“I meant it at the time – but if you’ll recall, we weren’t exactly in our right minds jus’ then. You jumped off my lap like...like a Slayer who found herself kissing her mortal enemy. I just figured the spell made me do it…and I know that’s bloody well what made you do it back. Don’t try to deny it.”
“So you’re sorry you did it then?” If anything, her voice became even smaller. “You’re glad it’s going to go away?”
“I’m not sorry,” he said gruffly. “Without it who knows what would have happened to you in that place before we got there. But I’m not…” he blew out an unnecessary breath. “Damn it all, Slayer, I told you I love you. And I do. Got nothin’ to do with that miserable spell. Why do you think I came to you for help when I got chipped? Figured if anybody was gonna take me out, it was gonna be you – not some over-grown Boy Scout. Wanted your face to be the last thing I saw.”
She peered up at from behind the hair that had fallen in her face when she put her head down to hide the tears brimming behind her lashes. She searched his face for any sign of deception, then realized how foolish that was when she could feel his sincerity in every breath she took.
“Then why…?”
He moved toward her again and gently took both hands in his.
“YOU were under a spell, pet. Wouldn’t matter how much I meant it, YOU did it under the influence of the spell. And since then you’ve been under the influence of the claim.”
He stepped between her open legs and pulled her close again, planting light, butterfly kisses on her face and neck as he said softly, “I want you to love me back more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life – or my 126 years of unlife. But I want to know that you’re doing it of your own free will, not because somethin’ magic is making you feel things you really don’t.
“I want you to want ME, Buffy. Me. Spike. Not some vampire that got lucky and got mated to you because a novice witch mucked up a spell. And not some non-existent human that I’m pretending to be so that other humans don’t separate us by killing one or the other of us. Tell me you understand what I’m trying to say, love. Please,” he finished, burying his head in the hair flowing down the side of her neck.
“You’re saying you don’t believe I love you.” There was an angry edge to her voice that was echoed by the feeling flowing through the claim.
He sighed audibly and mentally. “I’m SAYING, you stubborn bint, that I want you to love me of your own free will. Because I’m me, not because there’s anything else influencing you.”
“What…what if I don’t?” she said slowly. “What if it IS the claim making me feel this way?”
She looked up into his shocked eyes and repeated, “What then, Spike? What do we do then?”
He stroked her hair gently and tried to smother the gut-wrenching fear her words generated before she could feel it.
“Is that what you think is gonna happen, love? Do you think you won’t want me anymore?”
He felt his heart crack down the middle as she hesitated and tried to put her feelings into words. The longer it took her to answer, the more sure he was that he knew what she was going to say and he dropped his arms, stepping back from the counter.
His face closed down and he walled off his feelings as he waited for her to find her voice. Suddenly, the wall was knocked down as a wave of absolute panic and despair rolled over him. Buffy’s face was crumpling even as she fought to contain the tears threatening to fall from her fear-stricken eyes.
Without warning, he swept her off the counter and carried her now-sobbing form into the living room. Grateful that someone had pulled the drapes so that he didn’t need to worry about the sun, he settled them onto the couch and rocked back and forth with her, sending her reassurances as he did so.
(Won’t matter, love. I’ll be here no matter what you decide. Couldn’t stay away from you. If you don’t want me as a lover, I’ll be your friend, your bodyguard, your willing slave. Just tell me what you want, and I’m it. I’m yours, Slayer. Whether you’re still mine or not, I’ll still be yours. Forever. You’ll have to dust me to get rid of me.)
(Don’t wanna dust you. I just don’t want to go back to the way we were Maybe the claim is making YOU love ME. Did you ever think about that? What if you hate me when it wears off?)
(Never happen, pet. I told you before. My feelings were already there. Might have taken the spell to bring them out, but they were there. ‘S why the demon was so quick to claim you. Been wanting you for so long…had to take the chance while I had it.)
“I’m afraid, Spike,” she said aloud, never moving her head from where it rested on his chest. “This has been the most…” he felt her internal struggle to put what she was feeling into words. “I’m terrified that when the claim is gone, one or both of us isn’t going to…” She raised her head and her wet eyes bored into his. “If we lose this, I’m afraid I’ll never feel like this again. And I don’t think I could stand it. Knowing how it can be, but never having it ag--”
He stopped her with cool, soft lips that moved gently over hers, caressing and urging, but never demanding. He put everything he was feeling into the kiss; using his lips and tongue to convey the emotions he would have been sending through the claim. He felt her responding, her breathing quickened and her pulse increasing as she moved in his lap to be facing him.
He deliberately kept the barriers up as he used purely physical means to express the effect she had on him. His hands slid under her shirt and, cool as they were, left heated trails everywhere they touched. When he moved one hand to edge between them and run his thumb against the bottom of her breast, her breath caught with a small gasp and she fell sideways to allow him more access.
With freedom to move his hands around, he quickly pushed up her shirt and fastened his mouth on the lace covered nipples in front of him. The arm that wasn’t supporting the Slayer’s upper body moved down to the waistband of her jeans, unsnapping them and slipping in to slide down the silken skin on her stomach. He kept his hand in her pants, gently teasing her as he stroked through the soft curls covering her mound and ran his fingers down the incredibly smooth skin where her thighs met her abdomen.
With a growl that made him smile, Buffy unzipped her own jeans and pushed them down as far as she could without actually leaving his lap. He grabbed her hands and pushed them back up, as he slid down so that they were lying side by side on the couch.
“Ah, ah, Slayer. Let me do this, love. Let me show you it can still be good for you. I can make it good.”
As he spoke, his hand was running over her exposed skin, slowly working its way toward the source of the arousal he could smell permeating the air. He dipped into the moisture between her legs, then slowly ran his finger up to her clit, spreading it as he went. He felt her shiver beneath him and arch up toward his hand, but he pushed her back down with a “Tsk, tsk, Slayer. Don’t be so impatient.”
He leaned in and captured her lips again, his tongue sliding around her mouth, in and out, touching hers then withdrawing, then touching it again before he drew it into his own mouth and sucked on it gently. Between the bone-melting kisses and the cool fingers playing against her soaked quim, she was sure she was going to pass out from pleasure and denied release.
Spike’s fingers played over her pelvic area, never staying with one place or one rhythm long enough for her to find that release and she was soon whimpering in need as she continued to try to thrust her hips against his elusive fingers. When he dipped his fingers inside her again, she clamped her muscles down on them, growling and making the vampire laugh with joy as, instead of trying to pull them out, he thrust harder and curled his fingers up to find the spongy bundle of nerves that sent her hips flying off the couch while she shrieked in surprise.
He continued to massage the spot with his fingers as his thumb found its way to her clit and began to rub it in circles, pushing against the pressure from the inside. He fastened his mouth back on hers, swallowing the little moans and cries that were leaving her throat without let up. The dual pressure on her most sensitive spots soon sent her screaming over the edge and she arched into his hand, her whole body trembling with the force of her orgasm.
When he felt her come, Spike dropped the barriers between them and allowed everything she was feeling to flow through him and straight to his cock. As Buffy’s orgasm spasmed around his hand, he felt his cock swell and throb with the sensations flooding his body through the claim. And when she shuddered to her final release on his lap, he felt himself explode onto the heat of her hip into which his erection had been pressing the whole time.
For minutes neither one moved, except for Buffy’s gasping breaths and his equally desperate, though unneeded, gulps of air. The Slayer lay sprawled beside him, her legs open as far as her partially removed jeans would allow, her eyes unfocused and her lips swollen from kissing. He thought he’d never seen anything so wanton and beautiful in his life and he made no attempt to hide his thoughts from her. He felt his cock stirring back to life as he gazed down at her golden body, so relaxed and open to him.
The eye she opened to look at him and the eyebrow she cocked disbelievingly told him the claim was still open. He grinned at her and nudged her hip with his once again rock hard erection.
(If and when I can move, I might do something about that) her thought was clear, but she made no attempt to move from her relaxed and boneless position.
(‘S alright, pet. I jus’ wanted you to see that we didn’t need the claim to have fun. Wasn’t about me.)
(But you opened it up. I felt it.) She blushed, remembering the additional thrill that had gone through her when he reached his own climax against her leg.
(Yeah, well, I cheated a little bit at the end there. Wanted to feel you come one more time. Didn’t know it was gonna bring me off too.)
Buffy yawned and stretched, laughing at his expression when she arched her back up and unintentionally pushed her breasts toward his face. Reluctantly, she tugged her jeans back up and fastened them before sitting up and pulling her shirt down.
“I don’t know how you did that – it was like being naked without being naked. Kinda…”
“Sexy?” he asked hopefully.
“I was gonna say ‘kinky’, but okay, your word works too,” she admitted with a blush. He ran a hand lightly up the side of her cheek, stroking the smooth skin and memorizing the shape of her jaw.
“Nothing that happens between us can be anything but sexy and wonderful – not as long as we love each other.”
Before either one of them could spoil the mood by remembering out loud that they might not still love each other the next time they met, he stood up and took off his coat. When he started to walk away, Buffy grabbed his pocket and said anxiously, “Where are you going?”
“Jus going to clean up a bit, pet,” he said, leaning over to drop a kiss on her forehead. “Don’t fancy driving to LA in wet, sticky jeans. I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared into the kitchen and she heard him going down the basement stairs as she allowed herself to stretch back out on the couch. The lack of sleep and turmoil of the past day and night caught up with her, and when Spike came back upstairs dressed in his signature black jeans and tee shirt, she was sound asleep, her head resting on one arm while the other stretched out toward the edge of the couch as though reaching for something.
After staring at the sleeping girl until his eyes began to water, he kicked off his boots and gently settled himself beside her, picking up her arm and putting it across his chest. Immediately, without waking, she curled her hand around his side and snuggled closer to him. She threw one leg over his and sighed contentedly.
Bringing his hand up to rest on her arm, he closed his eyes and allowed the sun he could feel outside to put him to sleep. When Joyce got home from work, they were still there, chastely curled up against each other on her living room couch.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
posting two chapters at a time again. Hope it works!