Oh, and I decided to go against the fanon-vamps-know-their-bites thing. It was just more fun this way.
“What the bleeding hell is that?”
Buffy jerked awake with a start, only to find a very gorgeous, very livid vampire perched between her thighs. He was staring at her like she was a stranger. Like she was someone he’d never seen before. She frowned and panicked for a second before realizing where he was—and what he was looking at it.
Oh God.
Her panic leapt off the charts. “Oh, God. Oh God. Spike. I-I can…I can explain. I’m so sorry. I—”
Spike snarled, his eyes glowing yellow, and Buffy shrank back when her heart leapt into her throat. Okay, so she’d known he’d take it bad. Very bad, even. After all, she’d been very much with the secretive. And the closer they’d become, the more she’d gone out of her way to make sure the mark remained hidden.
But yellow eyes and fangs? Oh, and ridges? Spike was having serious ridges. She hadn’t known he would take it that badly.
“When?” he snarled, running his hand over the bite. “When?”
Despite the gravity of the situation, she felt a rush of lust unlike anything she’d ever experienced. For weeks, she’d been craving his touch there. On her mark. Caressing her. Laving his territory with his mouth and tongue. Now, for the first time, his hand was over the place he’d marked her, and the sensation was orgasmic.
“Answer me, Buffy!” he growled, crawling forward and seizing her shoulders. “Was it the night you kissed him? Did you have him bloody mark you, too? Is that what made you toss your cookies? When? Answer me!”
Buffy blinked, stunned silent. “What?”
“When did you let him touch you?” He fisted a handful of her hair and craned her neck back. “When?!”
“Spike, you’re scaring me—”
His eyes glimmered and he flashed her some fang. “Oh baby, I haven’ even started.”
“Spike—”
“I gotta say, luv, if it was fangs you were lookin’ for, you shoulda told me.” He ran his tongue down one of his incisors and smirked nastily. “I’d’ve been bloody thrilled to accommodate your—”
Buffy blinked again, realization spreading cold through her veins. He thought…oh God, he thought that Angel had bitten her? He thought that?
It was awful, but her first instinct was to laugh. Hard.
“Spike,” she said, pulling carefully out of his grip. It was a chore, trying to keep her voice calm and mirth-free. She wanted so badly to guffaw like a mad woman. Like she’d ever let Angel bite her. Especially now. Was he insane? “You need to—”
“Least I could’ve done the job properly!” Spike continued furiously, spreading her legs further apart, running his finger across the mark again. And again, her insides flushed with heat. “You call that a sodding bite? I know poofters with stronger fangs!”
That was it. Buffy’s façade crumbled into loud, cackling laughter. The flash of confusion that stormed Spike’s eyes didn’t do much to help. She laughed until she couldn’t breathe, caught her breath, and then melted into giggles all over again. She tried to speak, but her words rode out on chuckles. The idea was just preposterous. Absolutely preposterous. And topped off with Spike unwittingly insulting his own fangs? This was so priceless, it deserved its own MasterCard commercial.
Spike’s confusion quickly gave way to angered hurt. “I’m glad you’re so bloody amused,” he growled, the ferocity in his voice doing little to mask his pain. “Pull one over on me?”
Buffy shook her head as her amusement calmed, pressing her lips together to wane off any other ill-timed chortles. “No. No. Spike, God no. I love you, you…git. I’m just…I’m sorry if I find this funny.”
At that, the fire in his gaze softened. “Did you just call me a git?”
“Hey! I don’t know what it means. Only that you use it as an insult, and right now I’m insulting you while making with the love declaration…and hey! You latch onto git but not the love thing?” Buffy scowled and slapped his arm. “I reiterate: big, big git!”
Spike exhaled slowly. “Slow down.”
“Me? I should slow down?! You’re the one that’s all with the conclusion-jumping, and I’m the one being told to chill?”
His eyes narrowed. “Buffy—”
“Like I would ever, ever let Angel bite me. Especially after you. Kissing him made me hurl in the incredibly gross, literal sense.” Buffy shuddered, then sighed and rolled her shoulders back, resignedly. Of course, though, there was no way for Spike to come to any other conclusion. Her nerves, no longer protected by amusement, were suddenly screaming. Screaming with his pain along with her anxiety. She sucked in a deep breath. There was no more hiding. She’d made her bed; it was time to face the music and dance.
Buffy groaned inwardly. Mixed metaphors, much?
“Spike…ummm…” She released a long, shuddering breath. “The bite…this?” She took his hand in hers and guided it back to the sacred place on her thigh, moaning when his fingertips brushed her tender flesh. “This is…yours.”
Spike froze. There was nothing for several long, agonizing seconds. He didn’t blink. Didn’t sigh. Didn’t move. His eyes just bore into hers, unreadable. Buffy swallowed hard but didn’t say a word. Her heart was pounding too hard to get her voice to work. He just stared at her.
When he finally spoke, the sound was so raw that her heart ached with regret. “What?” he demanded. Then paused, blinked, shook his head, and met her eyes again, incredulous. “What?”
“You…” Buffy sighed and cast her gaze downward. “It’s yours, Spike. The…poofter mark is yours.”
“Have you gone completely carrot-top?”
“Huh?”
There was a long pause. “I think I’d remember somethin’ as marvelous as biting you, pet.” His eyes narrowed. “An’ my fangs are not poofter-fangs!”
“Hey! Your words, not mine!”
“That’s not my—”
“Spike, trust me. I’d know if another vampire found his way between my legs and…” Buffy shook her head and sighed. “It was…Spike…it was the night you kidnapped me. You…when you came back, all drunk, you…were downtown man.” She shifted uncomfortably. “You bit me.”
Spike blinked. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “No. You…I’ve seen you.” He shivered and sighed. “I’ve seen you…bloody well shagged you sideways. There was the crypt…an’ your room…an’ the Bronze an’…I’d remember seeing a bite mark.” He blinked again. “I’d…remember…”
Buffy sighed, her eyes falling shut. This was going to be harder than she thought. There was absolutely no way to calculate how deep learning of her deception would cut. She’d been incredibly thoughtless. Incredibly selfish. There was absolutely no way to tell him this without hurting him.
“I…I didn’t tell you,” she whispered.
“Yeah,” Spike drawled, disbelief giving way to anger again. “Gettin’ that.”
“I…” She swallowed hard and gestured emphatically as she searched for words. “You were…really frazzled that morning. A-and I didn’t want to…make it worse for you. You were guilt-tripping—”
“That was bloody weeks ago!”
“Yes! A-and after that, I told you to skedaddle and you so didn’t do that. And then there was the sex and the more distancing and by the time we came up with the confusing, yet at the time, seemingly-reasonable plan, I didn’t know how to tell you.” Buffy shivered and rubbed her arms. “It didn’t…after we came up with the plan, I didn’t…I should have told you, but so much time had passed and I didn’t…”
“I still can’t…I’ve seen you, Buffy. I’ve seen you naked—”
“Not really. I hid…that part. I made sure you didn’t see that. I didn’t want…” At his look, she dropped her shoulders and sniffled. “God, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Spike. I didn’t mean to. I really…I’m not saying…I know I made a mistake. A huge, colossal mistake. I’m not trying to exonerate myself or anything. I know I screwed up. But I was gonna tell you tonight, I swear.”
Spike cocked his head, his eyes narrowing. “Were you, now?”
“Yes! I so totally was.”
“That’s bloody convenient for you, pet.” He cast a hand through his platinum locks, a long, humorless laugh tumbling through his lips. “How could you keep this from me?”
“Spike—”
“No. How could you keep this from me?” He broke off and shook his head again. “You are some piece of work, Summers. I bloody well—”
“Spike, before you yell at me and give me the scolding I so richly deserve—” She paused and held up a hand when he gave her a stern look. “I’m not being glib. I’m glib-free Buffy. I know I deserve it. I really, really deserve it. But…Angel—”
A low growl rumbled through Spike’s throat. “Now would be the wrong time to mention Angel, pet.”
“No. Let me…finish.” Buffy laughed nervously and tucked her hair behind her ear. Oh God. Please let me not have ruined everything. “Angel’s been asking me for a while now if you bit me. I didn’t tell him. I didn’t…it wasn’t any of his business. It was mine. It was the one part of you that I still had…well, until the plan where I pretty much had you all the time.”
There was no way Spike could withhold a grin at that. He rolled his shoulders and waggled his brows. And that was it. Buffy sighed, releasing some of her tension. Words could not describe how happy she was to see that brow-waggle. “Others might say that I had you all the time,” he retorted.
She flushed. “Yeah…my point being, when we were trying the stay-away-from-each-other bit, the bite mark was all I had of you. And…touching it…”
Spike’s brows perked and he glanced down with interest. “Touching it…?” he drawled curiously, running an experimental finger across the mark. His eyes sparkled when she moaned and rolled her head back, thrusting up against his hand. “Oohh,” he cooed, rubbing her with more intent. “Isn’t that neat?”
“Uhhhh…”
Spike chuckled. “Oh, baby. Do you have any bloody idea how long we played, not explorin’ this?” He ducked his head, wrapping his lips around one of her nipples, his fingers massaging the bite mark tenderly. A helpless whimper tore at her throat and she trembled in ecstasy. God, and she thought it’d been good when she’d rubbed the mark. Having Spike touch that spot? She’d be lucky if she didn’t die from an overdose of pleasure. “Guess I’ll jus’ have to make up for lost time.”
“Uhhh…that feels…”
He grinned around her breast. “Heavenly?”
“Ohhh…so…not mad?”
The way his chuckle reverberated against her skin successfully banished any lingering anxiety. “You kept this from me. But…with as much as it bloody boggles, I can see how…well, no, I can’t, but I can think of a few ways to work out my frustrations,” he purred. “Though I’m very angry, so it might take me a while.”
“Spike, there’s something…”
“Lay back, baby.”
“Wait. I need to—”
“If you love me, you’ll lay back.” He flashed a wicked, knee-weakening grin at that. It was a good thing she was already lying down, else she’d likely find something to trip over. “Oh, don’t think I didn’t hear that. Minx. Where do you get off, telling me you love me, an’ all?”
She reeled. He might as well have slapped her. “Spike—”
His fierceness only lasted a minute. Then his eyes flooded with adoration and the wicked leer on his face softened into the kindest, most loving smile she’d ever seen. He took her face in his hands and brushed a soft kiss across her lips. “I was s’posed to say it first,” he murmured, kissing the corner of her mouth. “An’ if you bloody well tell me it’s because of a sodding spell, I’m gonna—”
“It’s not a spell.”
Spike paused and blinked rapidly, falling back in surprise. “It’s not?” he replied, his voice trembling with hope. “You believe me, then? You know I love you? You know it’s not because of magic or—”
“I know.”
He smiled excitedly, rumbling in delight, though he couldn’t hide the confusion in his eyes. “I gotta say, luv, that was easier than I thought. An’ here I was, prepared to tie you up an’ torture you until you believed me. Granted, my idea of torture was gonna be a lot more like sexy fun, but—”
“Spike, there’s something else. Something that An…” She squeaked when his face fell to a frown again. “Ummm…that guy I used to date and Giles…they told me something this afternoon. Something that…kinda sorta explained why An—that guy I used to date used you to get me to rush into the very special make-Buffy-dead rite of passage.”
His eyes flashed angrily at the mere mention. “That—”
“Spike…when you bit me…you kinda…” She trailed off, suddenly nervous again. “Well, Giles used the word claimed me. Yeah. You claimed me.”
“I…” He paused, his brow furrowing, eyes wide with confusion. “I claimed…I bloody claimed you?”
“Yeah, a little.”
“I claimed…I don’ even sodding know how to…well, I looked it up once but I never…” He broke off and shook his head. “I claimed you. As in…I claimed you. I…Christ, Slayer, do you know what this means?”
She nodded perkily. “Uh huh. Giles and…that guy I used to date were all with the explainy. And I did some reading during class when I was supposed to be listening to the teacher. You claimed me, you got me to accept. It’s the reason we’ve been all with the…lusty goodness.”
“Because I claimed you.”
“Yeah. And all our feelings…they’re feelings that were already…there. Repressed feelings that…” She turned her eyes shyly to the stretch of mattress between them. “So, yeah, okay. The first time I saw you, I thought you were gorgeous with a body to die for and a killer accent…then you made that stupid ‘I’ll kill you on Saturday’ comment, but the lusty thoughts—”
Spike’s eyes swallowed her with awe. “Slayer…”
“S-so yes. Feelings…were there. Bad…very repressed…lusty feelings. A-and—”
“I wanted to shag you into the sodding ground the firs’ time I saw you.” He dived for her throat, sucking sweetly at her skin. “No harm in admittin’ it.”
“Spike…”
“I claimed you?” There was a giddy note in his tone now. He cupped her breasts and coaxed her back gently against the mattress. “I really claimed you?”
“Yeah…you did.”
“You’re mine?”
She smiled and stretched beneath him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Wholly and completely yours.”
The light that filled his eyes could move stars. “For how long?” he demanded throatily. “How long are you mine?”
“Pretty much ever.”
“Forever?”
She shrugged. “Claims work that way on people. A-and Giles said that your…being a little less with the shredding innocent people to bitty bitty bits is something you get from me. Kinda like I get the new and improved non-existent expiration date.”
Spike blinked. “An’ you’re okay with this? You really—”
“Spike?”
“Hmm?”
“You wanna talk or you wanna get with the wild monkey love?”
He grinned, his mouth nearing hers intently. “Neither,” he replied, sucking her lower lip between his teeth. “I still gotta punish you a bit.”
“Punish?”
“You’ve been a very bad girl. Keeping secrets from your Spike.” His grin widened. “So now…you get punishment.”
Buffy sat up—or rather, she tried to sit up. A very insistent hand shoved her back to the mattress. “A-and how exactly are we punishing?”
“You’re giving me…a taste.”
He kissed her hard before she could respond, then slid eagerly down her body, his mouth covering every inch of skin as he went.
Her nerves seared with heat. Oh yeah. This was definitely the sort of punishment a girl could go for.
To be continued…