Chapter Thirty-three
They drove up to the loading dock entrance to the building and Buffy was surprised to find, Justin, the concierge and two other men, all cheerfully waiting to help carry her stuff up to the penthouse. Spike introduced the three briefly, gliding over the last names. Buffy thought she felt some reluctance on the part of the man introduced as “Teddy” when she went to shake his hand, but it was over so quickly she couldn’t be sure. She peered at him suspiciously, wondering why her slayer senses were activating. When she saw the ease with which he picked up a box full of heavy text books, she realized why he was so uneasy about shaking hands with her.
She pulled on Spike’s arm and said in loud whisper, “I think Teddy is a vampire, Spike!”
He rolled his eyes at her, stepping between the blond Slayer and the obviously frightened vamp holding her books. In spite of being bigger than Spike and Buffy put together, Teddy appeared ready to drop the heavy box and bolt any second.
“Brilliant deduction, pet. Did they teach you that in Slayer school? Cause, you know, loud whispers? Vamp hearing? Not the best way to keep a secret.”
“But…but he’s holding my books,” she said in a voice that even she realized sounded more like a whiney brat than an adult Slayer. “And he’s not dust. Why isn’t he dust, Spike?”
“Because he’s a friend of mine, love,” he said soothingly. “Teddy has never willingly hurt anyone in his unlife. There’s no reason for him to be dusted. And, anyway,” he added, “He’s the night desk clerk/watchman for the building. He works for me.”
Buffy gaped at the still-nervous vamp in disbelief. Teddy was nodding his head rapidly in agreement with Spike’s comments. Fighting down her instincts, she took another look at him and saw the gentle expression on his face and the complete lack of anything but fear directed toward her. She looked back at Spike for more explanation.
“Teddy was one of my minions,” he explained. “He almost starved to death before we realized he wasn’t eating anyone. He doesn’t mind being a vampire, he just doesn’t like the evil part of it. Must have a really lazy demon,” Spike snarked with a laugh at the embarrassed vamp.
Teddy stood, holding Buffy’s box of books and shuffling his feet as Spike explained what a failure the gentle giant was as a minion until they discovered that he was an excellent assistant for Dalton due to his education and love of research. Spike didn’t say it, but Teddy’s gentle nature had reminded him of himself before he was turned and he found himself very protective of their resident non-evil minion.
“So, what does he eat, then?” Buffy was still dubious, but gave Teddy a reassuring smile anyway.
“I bag it most of the time,” he admitted quietly. “Either pigs’ blood from the butcher or the real thing from Willie’s if I want a special treat.”
“So, you never eat people?”
Teddy looked at Spike helplessly and his boss stepped in, turning Buffy so that she wasn’t staring at the nervous vamp.
“Once, he found a man trying to rape a little girl and he ripped the perverted wanker’s throat out. It was well-deserved and I’m sure nobody missed the ugly blighter. Ever since then, if the demon gets antsy, he finds some low-life trying to hurt somebody and he gives them the fright of their life. Usually leaves ‘em alive though, don’t you, Teddy?”
Teddy nodded again, sending Buffy a nervous smile. “I don’t kill them, Slayer. I just take enough to satisfy the demon for awhile and scare them into thinking about changing their ways.”
“Oh,” was all Buffy could think of to say. Her training in a Slayer’s duty was warring with her common sense and it was giving her a headache. In typical Buffy fashion, she chose to ignore the problem.
“Let’s get this stuff upstairs while I still have enough energy to put it away,” she said cheerfully, leading the way to the elevator without actually acknowledging the explanation.
Spike shook his head warningly at the confused vamp and said, “Right, then. Let’s go men. She’s got boxes to unpack and shoes to put away.”
A quick trip to the top floor and Buffy’s things were quickly piled in the middle of the living room floor and she was thanking the three helpers with a sincere smile. Spike added his gruff, “Thanks, mates,” as they left the apartment as rapidly as they politely could.
“Do I make them nervous?” Buffy asked with the beginnings of a pout.
Spike raised one incredulous eyebrow at her and she had the grace to blush.
“I guess I do, huh? Well, they’ll just have to get used it. The Slayer lives here now.”
Ignoring the astonished vampire gawking at her with a widening smile on his face, she began pawing through the bags of clothes for the dirty ones. “Ah ha!” she said triumphantly as she held up a large plastic bag full of laundry. “Here it is! Off to the laundry room with you!”
A bemused Spike followed the chattering girl down the hall to the laundry area wondering who this person was and what she’d done with the usually serious Slayer. She filled two washers with underwear and school clothes, then turned around and crossed her arms across her chest.
“I’m guessing I don’t need to stay here to be sure nobody takes my stuff,” she said, smiling widely at the vampire. “What with you being the boss and everything…”
“Your things are perfectly safe here, love. Anybody who’s not afraid of me is probably terrified of you, so I’m thinkin’ yeah, it’s as safe as houses.”
“Is that a vampire thing? ‘Safe as houses?’ I mean, what makes houses so safe? Unless you’re a vampire, and then I guess…”
“What’s the matter, pet?” He moved closer to her and ran a hand down her arm until he could link their hands. “Not having second thoughts, are you?” he asked, suddenly realizing the real reason for her unusual chattiness.
Buffy squeezed his fingers tightly as she struggled to find the words she needed to say. She sighed heavily and dropped the false cheeriness.
“I…I don’t know. It’s just such a…big step, you know? Living together, I mean. Not us,” she hastened to assure him. “I’m all about the us being…us. It’s just…I mean what’s my mom going to say? And what if the Council finds out? If Willow and Giles could figure it out, I’m sure they will. And then what?”
“We’ll sort it out, love. We talked about this before. I’m going to be William in public. A much less poncy William than before, but not the Big Bad. Unless somebody tells them what’s going on, they’re just going to think you’re trying to have that normal life that most Slayers never get. Nobody in this building is going to be talking to anyone from the Council of Wankers. You can be sure of that.”
“What about my mom?”
He pushed a strand of hair back from her worried face and said carefully, “I think your mum will surprise you. She knows you’re not her little girl any more. And she knows what the life expectancy is for Chosen Ones and that you’ve already exceeded it. Even if she didn’t like me, I don’t think she’d object to you living with somebody whose only goal in his un-life is to keep you alive for as long as possible.”
“That’s your only goal?”
“Well,” he moved closer and ran his lips down her neck, causing her to shiver all over, “that and shagging you silly on a regular basis.”
“Oh,” she breathed leaning into him and sliding her arms around his waist. “I like that goal.”
“We could begin now, if you’d like,” he responded, sounding much more like William than Spike.
He ran cool hands up under her shirt and began stroking her silky skin while his lips continued to move around her face and neck, leaving small moist spots where they paused for seconds. His tongue laved his bite marks, sending tingles directly to her lower abdomen and causing a release of moisture into her last pair of clean panties.
Buffy moaned in barely restrained desire as she melted into his body, trying to feel every hard muscle. He moved his mouth up to her lips and she lost herself in one of his bone melting kisses. She almost passed out trying to maintain the kiss as long as possible. Breaking away for one quick gulp of air, she came back immediately, attaching her lips greedily and sending her tongue out to twist around his.
She was dimly aware of the sound of the door opening, but her back was to it and she didn’t see who came in. She did see Spike raise his head and flash his fangs at whoever it was. There was a frightened squeal and the door shut again abruptly. With a snarl, Spike reached the door and twisted the doorknob so that it was locked securely.
He turned to look at Buffy, leaning weakly against the washer, all flushed and disheveled and his face melted back into William’s adoring countenance. Without seeming to move, he glided toward her, lifting her up onto the washer and running his hands up her thighs until he got to the waistband of her jeans. He teased the warm, taut skin of her stomach with his fingers, running them around the inside of the waistband, then suddenly dipping into the back to cup the globes of her ass.
He leaned down to take one fabric-covered nipple in his mouth, pulling on it gently while his hands slid around to the front and unfastened her pants. Taking his mouth off her breast, he began slowly pulling the pants down, pausing to hook his thumbs in her underwear so as to pull them off at the same time. He pushed her back gently so that she was leaning on her elbows on top of the washer while he tugged her pants off and dropped them on the floor.
Buffy looked at him from her place on the washer, marveling at how much he had taught her in the past week. Instead of blushing and cringing away from his heated gaze, she lay where he’d placed her, legs open while his mouth worked its way from her knees up the inside of her thighs until he was nibbling lightly on her nether lips.
Her gasp and involuntary tilting of her hips made him smile and he nuzzled her soft curls as he whispered, “Something you want, love?”
“Mmmmm, hmmmm,” was the most coherent thing she could think of as she continued to push toward his mouth and the talented tongue that was teasing her with little licks here and there. In one quick movement, he ran his tongue up her slit, pausing to press it into her clit before pulling back again. Buffy had thrown her head back at the first touch of his tongue and he stopped to admire the wanton picture in front of him.
There was something incredibly sexy about the sight of her, completely clothed from the waist up and naked and spread open for him from the waist down. He took one leg in each hand and placed them on his shoulders, cupping her ass in his hands and bring her heated sex toward his face. When he plunged his tongue into her, she choked back a scream as she arched up into his mouth.
Using his lips and tongue, he brought her to the edge of orgasm so many times she lost track, only knowing that her body was crying out for the release he was denying her.
“Spike!” she almost sobbed as she writhed on the cold metal beneath her. She felt him smile against her clit as he worried it with his blunt teeth, turning her sobs to gasps of “oh, God, oh, God, oh God”. Gritting her teeth, and using her strong stomach muscles to pull herself forward, she grabbed the curls on his head and held it against her while she rubbed frantically against his face.
Realizing he had pushed her beyond the point of sanity, and worried about his own safety, he relented and pulled her throbbing clit into his mouth, working it with his teeth and tongue while he sucked on it as only something that lives on freshly pulled blood can. In seconds, she was shuddering against him and screaming his name as the orgasm he’d been delaying for so long tore through her body. He held her tightly while the tremors continued to shake them both, only letting go when he felt her go limp in his hands.
He slid her completely limp body off the washer’s top and cradled her in his arms waiting for her to open her eyes. Instead, he felt her give a contented groan and snuggle into his chest, dropping immediately into a deep, much needed sleep. With a resigned sigh, he opened the locked door with one hand and carried her back to the apartment.
He set her gently on the bed, holding her up with one hand while he took off her shirt and bra. Except for an unintelligible mumble when he kissed her forehead and whispered, “sweet dreams, my love,” she gave no sign that she was aware of anything around her.
With a last, longing look at her naked body, he pulled the covers up and went back down the hall to collect her discarded clothes from the floor and to switch her clean clothes from the washer to the dryer. He gave a rueful growl as he realized what a sight it must make – a master vampire doing the Slayer’s laundry while she slept trustingly in his bed.
(Thank the powers that ole grandpa dusted Darla before she had a chance to see this. That hell bitch would be laughing so hard she’d probably dust from the vibrations.)
Chapter Thirty-four
Spike and Buffy strolled through Restfield cemetery, hands linked and senses alert for any signs of trouble.
“You know, I’m almost afraid to say this out loud, but-“
“Whatever you do, do NOT finish that sentence!”
The Slayer’s idle speculation was interrupted abruptly by the vampire’s horrified voice. “Do you want to bring about an apocalypse, pet?” he continued in a less terrified, but no less serious tone.
“I’m just saying – we’ve dusted so many vamps lately that it seems like there aren’t any left to make new ones. I’m going to get fat and lazy without any work to do.”
Spike pulled her into his body, rubbing against her so that she could feel his rapidly hardening cock.
“If it’s burning calories you’re interested in, I think I can take care of that, love,” he purred into her ear.
“Mmmmm,” she agreed, jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist and let his erection press into her instantly wet crotch. Heedless of the fact that they were standing in the middle of a public place, albeit one with very few visitors after dark, they ground against each other until Buffy gave a muffled shriek and trembled against him.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped, sliding down his body to an accompanying moan from the vampire as her heat left his aching cock. “I didn’t mean to—“
“S’alright, pet. Watching you come is almost as good as doing it myself,” he grinned at her flushed face and tried to adjust himself inside his jeans.
“Here, let me do that for you,” she purred, sliding down the zipper and slipping her warm hand into his pants. His hiss of pleasure and the jerking of his hips brought a wicked smile to her face. “I think I can fix this problem before we go to mom’s” she giggled, kneeling in front of him and taking him into her warm mouth.
“Ah, love. Your mouth – so hot, so wet - feels like heaven…that’s it, love, don’t stop, Buffy… only you, pet…. Slayer… Buffy….I’m…love you, Slayer…need to…. Buffy!”
Licking her lips, and smiling in pure feminine pride at the look on his face, she stood up and tucked him back into his pants. Giving his now softened cock a little pat, she cooed, “See, problem solved.”
As she went to leave, he grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him. She wrinkled her brow in confusion as his beautiful eyes bored into hers.
“Spike? William? Is…is something wrong?”
Shaking his head, he continued to stare into her puzzled eyes until he could see that she was about to say something else and he stopped her with a gentle finger to her lips.
“I love you, Buffy Anne Summers. More than you will ever know.”
He felt her smile against his finger just before she pulled it into her mouth and bit down gently. He growled a warning, but she just held his finger in her teeth until he relaxed and smiled at her.
“I love you, too, William,” she said softly. “Very much.”
“Just so that’s settled then,” he said gruffly to hide the tears threatening to embarrass him.
“Yup, all settled. Now let’s go. We’re going to be late for dinner.”
When they got to Revello drive for what had become a regular weekly occurrence, Joyce greeted them both with hugs and pecks on the cheek. They followed her into the kitchen and watched as she filled plates and handed them to the hungry Slayer.
“Here, honey, you put these on the table while I warm William’s blood.”
“I’ll do that, Joyce. You go visit with your daughter and start eating. I know we’re late. You’re prob’ly starving.”
When Spike joined his lover and her mother at the dining room table, he could tell he’d interrupted something serious.
“Should I go out and come in again?” he ventured as identical pairs of green eyes turned to him.
“Mom was just asking me what our plans were,” Buffy said quietly.
While Spike stared at the older woman in shock, she looked back and forth between them and shook her head.
“Exactly how stupid do you two think I am? And when were you planning to tell me you were living together?”
Suddenly reverting to the socially inept William he hadn’t been for over a 100 years, Spike stuttered and mumbled as he looked anywhere but at the mother of the girl he’d been mated to so briefly.
“How--?” Buffy’s timid question was interrupted by a wave of her mother’s hand.
“Oh please, you haven’t been in your dorm room for weeks. If I need to call you, I use Spike’s cell phone; which he then hands to you no matter what time of the day or night it is. You two act more married than most married people.”
She paused and her look softened. “I’m just a little hurt that you felt you couldn’t tell me about this. What did you think I would say?”
“Dunno, really.” Spike looked up from his feet to meet Joyce’s eyes, saying honestly, “I guess I just thought you’d be wanting something more for your daughter than a monster in a man’s body.”
Buffy’s eyes flew wide as she heard him refer to himself as a monster and she whirled to look at him.
“Don’t call yourself that! You…you’re not a monster.”
He held up his cup of warm blood and with a sardonic lift of his eyebrow, saluted her with it before talking a big sip.
“I am, love. Always will be. You know it. I know it. And your mum knows it. No sense tryin’ to pretend otherwise.” He looked apologetically at her mother, then met Buffy’s unhappy eyes. “The monster loves you, pet. Can’t deny that either. But it doesn’t change what I am – any more than that soul changes what Angelus is. We’re what we are – what we were made to be. Having me fall in love with a Slayer is just the Powers’ way of having a little fun at my expense.”
He turned back to the older Summers woman. “I know I’ll never be good enough for her, Joyce. But nobody could love her more than I do, and I’m going to do my best to keep her as safe as I can for the rest of her life. Any big bad that wants to take out this Slayer is gonna have to go through a master vampire to do it.”
“So, you’re going to take over her slaying?” Joyce asked skeptically, but with the tiniest trace of hope in voice.
One look at Buffy’s scowling face told him he needed to be careful with his answer if he didn’t want to be spending a very lonely evening.
“No, Joyce,” he said quickly, “Got no plans to be the Slayer. Buffy’s the Chosen One – and a damn good one she is,” he sent a quick smile toward the still angry-looking Slayer. “I just meant I’ll be at her side – fighting if I need to, watchin’ her back if that’s all that’s required. I mean to be with her for a long, long time.”
“Oh,” Joyce said, with just a trace of disappointment in her voice.
“Mom, you know what I am. We’ve talked about this. I’m really sorry that I won’t have that nice normal life you want for me. Believe me, sometimes I really want it too. But it’s not my destiny. I’m expendable – I’ve already lived longer than most slayers and had much more of a normal life than most of them are allowed.”
She paused for a minute to remember Kendra with her fixed ideas of what a Slayer could and couldn’t do; and Faith, equally as unorthodox as Buffy in some ways, but just as alone and lonely as Kendra had been.
“Spike is…he’s what I need. He loves me as I am. He loves Buffy, but he also loves the Slayer. He’s my equal in many ways. I don’t have to worry about him the way I would a human man. I know he can take care of himself…” she sent him a warm look that said more than words that she forgave him for sounding like he thought she needed a bodyguard. “And I love him. I love the part of him that’s William and I love the demon. He completes me.”
The vampire was staring at her, struck completely dumb by her words, while her mother nodded her head and covered Buffy’s hand with her own.
“I have no doubt that you love each other. Buffy. And if being with Spike makes you happy, you completely have my blessing. I feel much more comfortable about your pursuit of your duties knowing that you have someone like Spike to back you up.”
When the relieved couple relaxed and leaned back in their chairs, she turned to send a very stern motherly look at the vampire as she said, “That doesn’t mean I am happy that you and my daughter are publicly living in sin, William. What do you intend to do about that?”
Spike had just taken another sip of his rapidly cooling blood and he choked at her question, spraying red droplets out on the white tablecloth. To avoid answering, he continued coughing and making a big production of cleaning up his mess. Buffy was bright red and staring at her mother in mortification.
“Mooooom!” her anguished wail brought her mother’s gaze back to her and Joyce said innocently, “What? I have a right to know what his intentions are.”
Spike watched in amusement as the fierce Slayer, bane of the existence of all evil, the stuff of demon nightmares, blushed and cringed at her mother’s probing questions. He put his hand in his pocket, touching the small package he’d brought with him. Reaching a decision, he pulled his hand out of his pocket and set a small box on the table in front of him.
“I’d planned to do this in a more romantic setting,” he began, watching Buffy and her mother as their eyes were riveted on the small package he’d placed so casually on the table, “but maybe this is a good time to bring it up.”
He reached for Buffy’s hand, holding it in his as he picked up the ring box and moved to kneel in front of her. He flipped the box open to show the delicately filigreed setting for the diamond he was presenting to her.
“I thought maybe you would rather have this to wear instead of that heavy old thing you keep around your neck,” he grinned, still kneeling on the floor and holding her hand.
Joyce gave a gasp and Buffy put her free hand to her mouth and stared back and forth between the ring and the grinning vampire.
“Do you want me to say it, pet?” he asked softly as she continued to be speechless. “This time it would be all me – no spell.”
She nodded dumbly and he kissed her knuckles as he asked her in William’s cultured tones, “Miss Summers, would you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Tears sprang into Buffy’s eyes as she looked into his serious blue pupils.
“Yes,” she said softly, then louder, “Yes, William, I will marry you.”
“Well, good,” he said briskly, back to his usual self. “Let’s get this on you then.”
He slipped the ring onto her waiting finger and sat back on his heels to beam at her as she turned it this way and that, watching it catch the light. She held it toward her mother and Joyce dutifully admired it. She turned to look at the smiling vampire and said tentatively, “That is a lovely ring, Spike. It looks like an antique. It must be worth a fortune….”
“Didn’t steal it, Joyce,” he said tightly.
“Oh, no! I didn’t mean to imply—just, it’s…”
“William is rich, Mom. He owns buildings. I’m sure a little ring wasn’t-“
“It was my mother’s,” he said quietly.
Buffy’s eyes flew to his and she moved to join him in kneeling on the floor.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “I love it. And I love you.”
“I’ll never get tired of hearing you say that.”
They were quickly lost in a kiss that went from chaste to demanding and moan-inducing before the sound of Buffy’s mother clearing her throat brought them back to their surroundings and they broke apart guiltily.
“So,” Joyce said brightly, “I have a wedding to plan!”
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