[Reviews - 117]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 3936 times

- Text Size +




Chapter Nine

Once Riley was gone, and Spike had walked around the house to confirm that he was not listening outside a window, Joyce and Buffy went into the kitchen where there was hot chocolate simmering on the stove. Spike hesitated in the doorway of the kitchen, looking very unsure of himself and more like William than he had at any point yet. When Joyce noticed him hovering bashfully just outside the room, she gave him a genuine smile and said, “Come on in, Spike – er, William. I know you like my hot chocolate.”

“Remember that, do you?” he smirked as he regained his confidence and took a seat next to Buffy.

“Well, yes. It’s not every day a lovesick, drunk vampire appears on my door step looking for my daughter,” she said with a wry smile. “Those kinds of things tend to stick with you. Especially,” she added, “when said daughter comes home and tells you how dangerous the vampire is and yells at you for letting him in while she beats on him.”

“Ah, good times,” Buffy laughed as Spike glared at her.

He turned to Joyce and said with complete sincerity, “I would never hurt you, Joyce. In spite of what your daughter might say about me. You have my word.”

“So, the Summers women have nothing to fear from the Big Bad, even if you get the chip out? Is that what you’re saying?” Buffy’s voice was teasing, but her eyes bored into his looking for an answer she knew she had no reason to expect from the vampire.

“I was talkin’ ‘bout your mother, pet. She’s always nice to me…well, except for that axe thing…You, on the other hand…”

“Hey! I’m nice to you. This is me, letting you sit in my mother’s kitchen and drink hot chocolate.”

She stuck her lower lip out in a pout and watched with great interest as his eyes zeroed in on her lip. She flashed back to the spell and how he sucked on her lower lip every time she stuck it out. Suddenly the room was very warm and she felt her underwear growing damp. Spike’s eyes flew open wider and she flushed, sat up straighter, picked up her cup and made a show of finishing off her cocoa.

“Well, that was really great, Mom. I – we – really appreciate you letting ‘William’ stay here while Giles has company. Where do you want him to sleep?”

“I fixed up the cot in the basement,” she said, turning to Spike apologetically. “It’s not very fancy, but I thought you’d be safe from the sun there.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Joyce. I’m sure it will be fine. I’m just sorry the tin soldier had to be there when we made the arrangements. I’d rather he not know that you are involved in this.”

“I gave birth to the Slayer, Spike,” she said dryly. “I couldn’t get uninvolved if I wanted to. Not that I want to, honey!” she turned quickly to Buffy and smiled brightly at her daughter. “I’m very proud of you and what you do every night.”

Buffy rolled her eyes, knowing her mother would give almost anything to have a normal daughter who was going to marry, have children and more than likely outlive her mother by many years.

“Thanks, Mom. I know you are. And speaking of what I do every night – I haven’t patrolled much lately. You up for a little violence, vampire?”

“You’re playin’ my song, luv.”

Spike bounced to his feet and stood eagerly by the door. Buffy and Joyce had to laugh at him.

“You look like a puppy dog, that can’t wait to go out.”

“You might at least have said I looked like a big, mean guard dog,” he grumbled as they went out the door.

Still laughing at him, Buffy waved at her mother and told her they’d be back late. Joyce said she was going to bed and fumbled for something to say, finally settling on, “Have fun slaying, dear.” She shook her head at herself as they Buffy rolled her eyes and closed the door.

“I probably shouldn’t be letting you come with me,” Buffy said quietly after she’d quit chuckling at him. “We don’t know where those commandos are or how many of them might be out tonight.”

“All the more reason for me to be with you, pet.”

She stopped and faced him. “You won’t be able to do anything to help me. They are all obviously human. You’d just get yourself captured again.”

“I’m not lettin’ you go out by yourself until we know those sadists in that lab aren’t plannin’ to add you to the ‘let’s see if it bleeds when we cut it’ list!”

Buffy stared at him, watching his eyes flash amber and his forehead begin to wrinkle until he fought the demon down.

“You won’t LET me?” she asked in a voice that was cold steel.

(Bollocks!)

He tried his best to look repentant, even as his lower lip came out and he repeated stubbornly, “Didn’t mean to sound all ‘me Tarzan, you Jane,’ on you, pet. That was the demon speakin’ to his mate. But, you don’t know what those people are like, Slayer. And I don’t want you to find out the hard way. Won’t apologize for that.” He glared at her defiantly.

She glared back just as defiantly, daring him to repeat what he’d said. For several long minutes the two powerful blonds challenged each other, neither one willing to back down. Finally, Buffy threw up her hands and spun away from him.

“Fine!” she snarled. “Don’t come complaining to me when you have to spend another week in their lab nursing a giant headache!”

They walked silently toward the nearest cemetery. Spike kept the mental barriers up between them so that she wouldn’t sense the profound fear he had for her. He knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t want to be coddled or protected.

(Know it’s her job to be the protector, don’t I? But she could let me help her out. Not tryin’ to take her job. Just want to keep her alive.)

“So,” Buffy said quietly as the reached the gates to Restfield, “sadists?”

“Don’t know what else you’d call someone who performs autopsies on livin’ demons, do you pet?”

“What?” Buffy’s stomach churned at the mental picture. “You must be wrong. No one would do that. Even to a demon. That’s…that’s….” she couldn’t think of what to call it.

“Called it vivisection in my day, pet. That’s what they called it when they did it to kittens and puppies. Nasty business, that.”

Buffy shuddered and unconsciously moved closer to the vampire. She tried to wrap her brain around the idea that humans could be so cruel. Suddenly she turned to Spike.

“What did they do to you?”

“Nothin’ I couldn’t handle. Vampire, here, you know. Pain is like…foreplay to us.”

He grinned at her, but his eyes slid away from her probing look. He could tell she was trying to get into his head, and he deliberately conjured up visions of naked dancing girls and leather-clad women carrying whips.

“Ewww, Spike!” She slapped him on the arm and made a face, while he laughed.

“Gotta be careful goin’ into my head, pet. Never know what you might find there.”

“Hmph!” Any further discussion was delayed by the arrival of a group of hungry looking fledglings. One look at the small blond and her meek looking escort and they were salivating.

“See, guys? I told you we’d find something to eat soon.”

The first one in line reached for Buffy, saying, “I’m taking the tasty blond. One of you can have her date.”

“What do think, William? Play a little or just dust them right away?”

“I’m thinking, RUN, pet.”

Before Buffy could register her disbelief, Spike was in her head telling her that he could hear heartbeats from the surrounding brush and thought there were at least four or five humans watching them.

(Commandos?)

(Don’t know what else would be hiding in a cemetery in the middle of the night, pet. Do you?)

(Shit, shit-shit-shit! Okay, there’s nothing I can do about it. This moron is going to bite me if I don’t stop him. But you can still be William. Maybe they won’t notice you.)

(I’ll play – but only as long as you’re winnin’, Slayer. One slip and these wankers meet a master vampire.)

(Deal. Now start screaming, William!)

(I’ll make you proud, love.)

During the course of their rapid mental communication, Buffy had held the puzzled vampire off with one hand, trying not to be obvious about it. As soon as Spike began backing up and shouting, “Oh dear, Oh my god, oh, help! Someone help us!” she shrugged and plunged a stake into his heart with her other hand.

Figuring she was busted no matter what she did, Buffy began to fight in earnest, dusting them as she got a good opening and punching and kicking when she didn’t. She could see from the corner of her eye, that even as he appeared to be shrinking back in fear, William was moving around so as to be able to guard her back no matter how she changed position.

In no time, fledglings being inexperienced and stupid, she had dusted all but one of them. The remaining vamp tried to grab William on his way out of the cemetery, only to find himself being held by a hand that was gradually crushing the bones in his arm.

Still shrieking hysterically, William held on to the panicked vamp until Buffy had strolled over and put her stake through it’s chest. When it exploded into a dust cloud, the man threw himself into her arms sobbing in relief. Buffy put her arms around him and whispered comforting things in his ear until she realized he had buried his head between her breasts for a reason. Pushing him away, she stood up and yanked him to his feet.

“All right, William, pull yourself together or I’ll have to slap you,” she snapped at the smirking blond man. “I told you, you shouldn’t have come with me tonight. Maybe next time you’ll listen!”

As she scolded Wlilliam, and he shuffled his feet in embarrassment, they were working their way toward the gate of the cemetery. As soon as they knew they were out of sight, they sprinted away, only slowing as they neared the house on Revello Drive.

They paused once when a strange-looking man appeared behind a hedge, but didn’t stop to look at him more closely when Spike couldn’t sense anything demonic about him.

“Ugly bugger,” he commented, looking back over his shoulder at the tall, skinny man.

“Slaying ugly people is not in my job description,” Buffy said, tugging him along with her. “Let’s get back to the house before I have to do more explaining than I feel up to right now.”

They had no sooner reached Buffy’s home, than Spike heard the roar of engines rapidly approaching. Tumbling through the door, they quickly hit all the light switches, plunging the house into darkness to match all the others in the sleeping neighborhood.

They knelt down, side by side, to peer out the front window and watched as two black SUVs, just like the one Riley drove, came roaring up the street. The vehicles slowed when they got close to the house and rolled to a gradually stop across the street.

After several minutes of waiting, they saw doors open and men wearing infra-red glasses got out and stared at the house. They then reached into the vehicle and pulled out a binocular-like device which they began to point at the house.

“Basement!” Buffy hissed, grabbing Spike and yanking him toward the kitchen.

They threw open the basement door and jumped down the stairs, landing easily at the bottom. Buffy stumbled slightly and Spike caught her, frozen in place as her warmth was pressed up against his cool body. He was ordering his arms to open and let her go, but they refused to listen; instead, pulling her in closer and sliding around to encircle her waist.

Buffy was mesmerized by the feeling of his hard, cool body pressed against hers. Except for the short time they’d spent dancing in the Bronze, she’d had very few opportunities to feel how well their bodies fit together. Without her volition, her arms went around his neck and she raised her mouth to his descending lips.
Chapter Ten

The gentle pressure from his soft, cool lips was all it took for Buffy to realize how much she’d missed the non-stop kissing they’d done while under Willow’s spell. With a small moan, she melted into him, allowing herself to be supported by the supernaturally powerful arms wrapped around her. Spike slanted his head and deepened the kiss, sending his tongue out to trace around her lips and teeth.

She sent her own out to meet it and they became lost in re-learning each other’s mouths. Buffy sent her tongue tracing over his gums, teasing at the retracted fangs and making him groan in ecstasy. When she cut herself on the incredibly sharp tip that Spike couldn’t prevent from protruding, the taste of her blood almost brought him to his knees.

Rather than pull her injured tongue out of his mouth, she continued to push against his, letting him pull it in further as he sucked on it, desperate for more of the elixir that was her blood. The feel of him pulling on her blood again made her legs give out, and she sank to the floor, pulling the vampire down with her.

Their mouths never parted as the Slayer lowered her head to the floor and let the vampire cover her with his body. She relaxed her thighs to allow him to settle between them, the hard ridge of his erection pressing against her heated core. When that pressure wasn’t enough, she brought her legs up around his hips and pulled him into her harder than he would have thought possible.

Buffy’s entire focus was on the intense pleasure being generated by the pressure of his hard length on her clit and the matching sensations taking place in her mouth. She ground her pelvis against him, completely lost in the building orgasm she was gasping toward. Spike thought his cock was going to catch fire from the heat and friction her grinding hips were creating.

Buffy’s muffled scream into his mouth and the accompanying arching up of her body was more than he could withstand and his hips jerked as he came against her quivering body. He let down the barriers and the waves of sensation ran back and forth between them, prolonging the pleasure until they collapsed in mutual exhaustion.

The vampire remained on top of her, taking his weight on his elbows, but allowing their hips to remain pressed together. Buffy slid her legs down to wrap around his thighs lightly. Her arms remained around his back, holding him to her while her heart rate slowed to normal. Removing his mouth from hers so that she could take in the gasping breaths needed to recover, he licked at his marks on her neck, thrilling at the immediate response he got.

Buffy reached up and ran her fingers through William’s soft curls, twirling them around her fingers as she did. His glasses had somehow remained in place throughout all the activity and she pushed them gently back up on his nose.

“Hey, William,” she said softly.

“Hey, yourself, love,” he answered with a smile, leaning down to plant a light kiss on her nose.

“Somehow I don’t think that was very William-like behavior,” she said sternly. “I’m sure he wouldn’t approve.”

“The dry humpin’? Maybe not, pet, but going off in his pants? Very William-like. Trust me,” he said ruefully.

“Ewww. TMI, Spike!” she said, shoving him away gently.

He laughed and rolled off, being sure he kept one arm holding her to his side.

“You brought it up, love. I’da just as soon left William out of it.”

“I LIKE William,” she said with a small pout. “He’s sweet.”

He nipped at her lower lip gently and said, “I’m not him, Buffy. You know that, don’t you?” He had a frightening thought and asked abruptly, “That’s not why you…why we…bloody hell, Slayer. Is that what this is all about?”

He dropped his arm and sat up suddenly, looking at her intently. When she dropped her eyes and looked away, he felt his heart clench and he moved away from her, cursing at the wet, sticky pants he was now wearing.

Suddenly desperate to get away from her, he prowled the edges of the basement, listening carefully. In spite of the intensity of their recent experience, only a short period of time had actually elapsed since they leaped down the stairs to avoid the infra-red sensors wielded by the commandos, and as coherent thought came back, both Slayer and vampire remembered that there were potential enemies outside the house.

When she started to say something, he held his hand up sharply and cocked his head. Looking around the dim room, he spotted a dirty window and moved toward it as silently as only a vampire could. Buffy sat on the floor where he’d left her, watching intently as he clearly tracked someone around the perimeter of the house.

When Spike got to the window, he cautiously raised his head to peer through a small clear spot in the glass. In the gloom, Buffy could just barely see him shift into game face as he looked out into the dark yard. He flinched and dropped just as a dark figure crept by the window and hesitated for a second. With his hearing strained to the limit, the vampire could just hear the whispered radio conversation.

“I don’t think they’re back yet, Finn. There’s no way her cousin could have moved that fast, no matter what she can do. We beat them here. What do you want to do?”

Cursing silently that he could not hear the response, Spike listened intently as the man outside the window answered.

“Got it. Cameras, sensors and recorders. I’ll get the back yard. Hey, there’s a window here to the basement. Want me to see if I can get in? I could put a sensor in there. If they’re hiding a hostile, that’d be the place to do it.”

(Be ready, Slayer. He’s talking about comin’ in this window. Much as I might like to rip his throat out, I don’t think I shou--)

Buffy’s voice in his head was practically screaming as she interrupted him.

(They want to come in my HOUSE? The place my mother lives? All you need to do is get out of my way when I--)

(Down, Slayer,) Buffy felt the admiration he was not trying to hide. (Somebody musta said “no” to that idea. He’s movin’ off to put stuff in the yard.)

Buffy moved over to the window to look out, but her night vision was not good enough for her to make out the black shadows in the yard.

“What are they doing?” she hissed.

His cool breath stirred tendrils of hair as he whispered in her ear, “Puttin’ cameras and some kinda sensors and recorders around.” He felt her heart accelerate when his lips brushed the shell of her ear. He wanted nothing more than to pull the fleshy lobe into his mouth and suck on it, but he was still hurt at her obvious preference for a man he no longer was.

They waited in silence, Spike using every one of his vampire senses to follow the progress of the men as they circled the house, hiding their high tech devices under bushes and in trees. Finally, they were done and they moved back to their vehicles, pulling away from the house much more sedately and silently than they had arrived.

Buffy and Spike waited impatiently to be sure they weren’t coming back, then crept back up stairs. Before Buffy could reach for the light switch, Spike stayed her hand, his touch freezing them both before he made himself let go and said, “Gimme a few minutes to listen for heartbeats – just in case they left somebody behind.”

She nodded, smothering the disappointment she’d felt when he stopped touching her. She tried to ignore the obvious unfairness of her wanting Spike to be William, the man, while making use of the vampire’s gifts to help her when she needed it.

(After all, I didn’t even know there was a William when I was engaged to Spike. I was engaged to the vampire. I didn’t mind the demon then.)

(Was the demon that claimed you, love. Not some poncey poet.)_

Buffy blushed in the dark, but Spike could sense the rush of heated blood to her face and smiled.

(I didn’t mean to think that out loud. You shouldn’t have listened.)

(Yeah, well, evil vampire, here, pet. You don’t want me readin’ your thoughts, don’t put ‘em out there like that.)

(I’m working on it. I’m getting better, aren’t I?)

(Prob’ly. I’m trying to stay out of your head ‘less I need to tell you somethin’ important. But when you’re thinkin’ right at me like that…)

Buffy changed the subject abruptly, asking, “Do you hear anything?”

“No,” he replied aloud, following her lead. “Do you want to go smash the stuff now, or wait until daylight?”

“If we do it now, they might come back to put new ones around. Let’s just leave them till morning and I’ll tell Giles about it. See what he thinks we should do.”

“In the meantime, pet, they’re gonna be expecting to see us comin’ home pretty soon.”

“Hmmm. How are we going to do that from in here? They’ve got cameras focused on all the doors, I’m sure….oh, I know! We’ll go out my bedroom window and come back in the front door.”

They went quietly through the dark house, up the stairs and into Buffy’s room. Spike looked around, inhaling the overpowering scent of Buffy that permeated everything in the room. He tried very hard to keep his gaze off the neatly made bed, but his eyes were continually drawn to it, visualizing Buffy sleeping there.

“Spike? Spike? Earth to Spike,” she whispered from the window. “Come on. What are you doing?”

“Nothin’, love. Jus’ indulgin’ in some wishful thinkin’.” He moved to the window and watched as Buffy opened it and slipped out with the ease of long practice.

“Done this before, have you?” he smirked as he followed her out onto the roof.

“Until you showed up wanting a truce and I had to tell my mother the truth. Every night, for almost two years.”

“Sh” He put a hand over her mouth, almost groaning aloud at the feeling of her warm, soft lips on his palm.

(We don’t know how sensitive those recorders are. Better not to talk till we’re on the ground.)

(I knew that!) Buffy was embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of being heard discussing her Slayer status or calling him Spike.

It took them only a few minutes to drop gracefully to the ground from the tree limbs. When Spike had looked around and spotted the camera, they carefully moved away until they reached the sidewalk. Once they were sure they were out of range, they turned around and began walking toward the house.

“I must say, Buffy. Life in Sunnydale is certainly more exciting than it is in London. I don’t believe we have creatures like that there.”

“Actually, William, I’m sure you do. You just aren’t as likely to see them as here. It’s important to know how to avoid them if you are going to be out at night in Sunnydale.”

They walked up to the front door, carefully maintaining their identities as cousins, although Buffy had obviously given up pretending she wasn’t a vampire fighter on some sort.

Once they were safely inside, they stood awkwardly in the front hallway, neither one sure what to do next.

“Well, I guess I’d better try to get some sleep before tomorrow,” Buffy said carefully. “College classes and all that.”

(I’ll go see Giles first thing in the morning and see what he wants me to do about those surveillance devices.)

“Yes. Your education is quite important. You should get your sleep while you can.”

(Hey! Maybe he’ll tell us to bash them with hammers. That could be fun.)

(I’m thinking more like, let Willow take one apart and see what they do. And, until we know that, we’ll just have to be very careful what we say to each other and Mom.)

(You know if they have heat sensors on them, we’re buggered, right? I can look and talk like William, but I can’t make my heart beat or my body temperature go up. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. My being here. Don’t want your mum havin’ to worry about those wankers too.)

(I’m not letting them take you back.)

(I’m not planning to go back. Jus’ saying, maybe I shouldn’t be here.)

(Too late now. You’re here and if they noticed anything when we walked up, then we’ll deal with that when we have to. In the meantime, you can hide in the basement and sleep all day tomorrow while I have to pretend I wasn’t up all night.)

Aloud, she said, “Good night, William. I’ll see you tomorrow. “

“Good night, pet. Sleep tight.”

(Sweet dreams, Slayer)

(There will be NO dreams, sweet or otherwise, if you know what’s good for you! I need sleep, not…dreams…or whatever.)

(Fine) the disappointed sigh was impossible to hide. (But I can’t make any promises, love. Knowing you’re just up the stairs… alone… in your bed. Naked, maybe?) he added hopefully.

(Spike…) there was no mistaking the visual she sent him of a large, wooden stake.

(Hey, a bloke can hope, can’t he? Good night, Slayer.) He leaned in and planted a chaste kiss on her lips, drawing back quickly before she could object or turn it into something else.

“Good night, William,” she said softly.





You must login (register) to review.