Yet the more she had him, the more she wanted. Her body ached, screamed constantly for him and only him. She was drunk on lust. Drunk on Spike…
They toppled to the bed, a tangle of limbs, lips instinctively finding each other. Desperate hands tugged at clothes, an overriding need coursing through them both to feel skin on skin.
A shared sigh of relief sounded in the room as Spike finally slid inside of her, allowing them to be joined once again.
“Never…felt…never felt anything like…Buffy!”
“Spike…Spike…need…don’t stop!”
“Won’t stop. Can’t stop. Need you, baby. Always need you…”
“Always…”
Spike looked into her eyes and what he saw there made his throat go tight. For once at a loss for words, he caught her mouth with his.
The panicked look on Angel’s face coupled with his statement about Buffy being in trouble caused Giles to usher him in without question. “What’s going on? Have you seen her?”
Angel shook his head. “No. I…” He paused, and until that moment, Giles wouldn’t have thought it would even be possible for a vampire to blush. “I smelled her.”
From his own seat, Ethan Rayne perked up. Oh, things just kept getting better…
“Where? And did you just say you ‘smelled her?’”
“Yeah. In, um, the backseat of my car. Along with…” He stopped and coughed into his hand. “With Spike.”
Angel had expected Giles to panic. Instead, he merely nodded. “So they went to Los Angeles then.”
Angel blinked. “Wait, you knew about Spike and Buffy? And you’re…okay with it?”
From his seat, Ethan couldn’t stop chuckling. He loved it when an evil plan went even better than he’d imagined.
“I’m not okay with it. I…” Giles sighed heavily as he gave into the urge to remove his glasses. “Buffy’s under a spell. She’s not…acting like herself.”
“And she’s run off with Spike? Couldn’t you have stopped her?”
Giles threw up his hands. “Stop her! Why didn’t I think of that? I should’ve just stopped the bewitched, crazed Slayer. How silly of me.”
Angel frowned. “Giles, I think this is more serious than you think. I smelled Buffy’s blood.”
Giles sighed wearily. “Yes, well, it appears Spike’s been biting her.”
“Biting her? I thought he had some chip in his head that prevented him from hurting people. That’s what Buffy told me anyway. How could he…” Suddenly, Angel put two and two together as he was painfully reminded of the scent that accompanied that of Buffy’s blood. “Oh.”
“However, though she may not be in any immediate danger from Spike – no matter how unsavory the situation may be – she is in some trouble from…”
“Giles, are you alone here?” Angel asked, cutting him off.
Giles frowned, noticing that Angel seemed to be paying attention to something he couldn’t decipher. “Other than you, yes. Why?”
Ethan swallowed hard, his glee quickly dissipating as he realized there may have been a flaw in his seemingly-perfect plan after all…
“There’s another scent in here. I didn’t catch it at first since I’ve been, um, trying not to smell anything on the ride up here, but there’s a scent of someone here I don’t completely recognize.”
Giles frowned, trying to figure out who it could be. “Willow has a new friend I do not believe you’re acquainted with. Tara…”
Angel shook his head. “Tara? No, it’s a masculine scent, and it’s not a lingering trace. It’s someone who’s still here.”
Slowly, Ethan got up from the chair, his eyes trained on the partially opened front door. Perhaps his stay-and-gloat had gone on long enough this time…
However, before he could manage to make it out, Angel’s hand shot out, grabbing him on the shoulder.
“There’s someone right here, Giles. He must be doing some kind of cloaking spell to hide himself, but I can smell him and apparently, I can touch him, too.”
Ethan struggled to get free, but the vampire’s grip, but it was too strong, and he was trapped.
“Ethan,” Giles said through clenched teeth. “It has to be him. He must’ve been here, cloaking himself the whole time – which would explain why we couldn’t locate him.”
“Is he the one who put the spell on Buffy?” Angel asked.
“Yes. I believe you two met before.”
Angel nodded. “Eyghon, yeah, I remember. Got rope, Giles?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”
Ethan slumped. This was the part of his evil plans he didn’t like…
Spike lay in the rumpled motel bed with Buffy curled at his side, smoke wafting up as they both enjoyed a post-coital cigarette. The sun had risen outside the pulled-tight curtains, and with it came the natural pull towards sleep Spike always felt at this time of the day. However, he didn’t want to give in, didn’t want to let this moment end.
The last time between them hadn’t been like the others. It had been…tender, soft. It had been something he’d never experienced before – not once in the century he’d spent with Drusilla.
He remembered what he’d wanted to say to Buffy back in the club and how he’d wanted a better moment. This was a better moment. Quiet and peaceful, he could say it now and hope he didn’t ruin everything.
“Buffy?”
She looked up at him. “Yeah?”
The sight of her made Spike’s unbeating heart clench. She was draped in the white hotel sheet, one firm, tan leg stretched out past the edge. Her long, blonde hair was tousled, mussed from her rolling and his fingers, and her own long, slender fingers held a cigarette which she brought sensuously to her lips, making Spike tremble as she did.
“Spike? You gonna say something, or are you just gonna stare?”
Spike cleared his throat, her words pulling him back to the moment. He could say this…needed to say this. She needed to know how he felt, what he wanted this to be. Maybe if he said this now, then whenever she got over whatever this was making her act not quite right, she’d want to stay with him.
It was a longshot, he knew, but after what he’d felt with her tonight, he was starting to genuinely fear the idea of her going back to who she used to be and leaving him. This wasn’t just a game to him anymore, wasn’t something he was doing for a bit of a lark. His feelings for the Slayer ran deeper than he’d ever allowed himself to admit before.
“You know how earlier I said I thought I was falling in love with you?”
Buffy nodded. “Yeah, I do. Not really something you forget. Why?”
Spike scratched the back of his head, wondering why this was so difficult. He was always the type to say whatever he thought. Then, an image of Buffy ridiculing him and his feelings passed through his mind and he winced. Could he really take that?
“Well, I…um…”
Buffy reached out and put her hand on his leg. “Spike, it’s okay. I love you, too.”
Spike stared at her for a moment, his jaw dropped. “You…I…why?”
She couldn’t help but giggle at his dumbstruck expression. “Well, why not? I’m happier with you than I’ve ever been with anyone else.”
This wasn’t how Spike had expected this to go at all. It was going, well, well. “But are you sure it’s…it’s love?” he asked, not fully able to believe this was actually happening. This wasn’t how things worked for him…
Buffy put out her cigarette then moved closer to Spike, cuddling against his side. “I’m sure. I know it’s crazy, but I’m sure.” She ran her fingers up and down his chest, and Spike finally gave into the smile that wanted to curve on his lips. “Now are you gonna actually say the words to me or not, huh?”
Spike grinned. “I love you, Buffy.”
“And I love you, too.” She leaned up to steal a kiss before she cuddled against his chest, her eyes closing.
Spike stubbed out his cigarette before he curled up with her and drifted off to sleep with a smile still on his face.
“So Ethan’s really right there?” Xander asked, pointing to a seemingly-empty chair. He waved his hand over the seat, seeming to go through air. “That chair looks empty. Are you sure Dead Boy hasn’t just gone insane, uh, er?”
“He’s there, Xander,” Angel replied, not bothering to hide his annoyance. “I can smell him and I can touch him.”
“Well how come you can touch him if we can’t?” Xander asked.
“It’s a demon thing,” Anya replied matter-of-factly. “Spells don’t always work right on demons.”
Ethan sighed, once again testing the strength of the ropes the vampire had somehow been able to use to tie him up. As he’d discovered every other time, he was very securely tied. If his legs weren’t bound as well, he could kick himself for not foreseeing this particular glitch. Bugger…
Well, tied to a chair or not, he wasn’t lifting the cloaking spell. They had him, but he was still invisible to everyone and it seemed as if even the vampire was still incapable of communicating with him. He’d just wait it out until he found his way to escape.
“Giles!” Willow exclaimed. “I think I found an answer in this book, at least to part of our problem. There’s a spell here that’s supposed to be able to reverse the effects of cloaking spells. I bet we’d have a better chance with Ethan if he couldn’t hide from us anymore.”
Ethan rolled his eyes skyward at the young witch’s declaration. Wasn’t that just his luck… Or, more appropriately, lack thereof.
Giles took the book from Willow, giving a terse nod as he read it over. “Yes, I think this could be of some use. There are a few ingredients listed here that I do not have, however.”
“But I think we can get them all from the magic shop,” Willow replied. “Tara and I will head over there now.”
“Right then. Go do that now. The sooner we get this cloaking spell down the sooner I can…convince Ethan that breaking the spell he’s placed on Buffy is in his best interest.
Unheard by anyone else in the room, Ethan groaned. Why did these things never go his way?
“Don’t worry, Mr. Giles, we’ll be quick as…” Tara stopped abruptly and her gaze shifted to Anya for a moment before she finished with, “Quick as some very fast but not hoppity animal.”
Giles nodded. “We’ll be waiting for you.”
Happy to finally feel like she had a defined mission in front of her, Willow headed out with her girlfriend.
Spike couldn’t help the big grin on his face as he watched Buffy. She was wearing nothing but his t-shirt, her hair up in a messy, high pony tail. She’d turned on cartoons and was now laughing at the exploits of the coyote and roadrunner as she ate Lucky Charms straight from a box she’d lifted the previous night from a grocery store.
She was by far the most adorable thing he’d ever seen.
“Enjoying yourself, luv?” Spike asked as he leaned against the headboard.
“Yup,” Buffy replied, mouth full of Lucky Charms. “I like the coyote. He reminds me of you.”
Spike arched an eyebrow. “That so?”
“Uh huh. His plans go about as well as yours.” She laughed loudly, clearly very amused with yourself.
“And I suppose you fancy yourself the roadrunner then.”
She turned to look back at him, a teasing smirk on her face. “Beep beep.”
Spike responded by tackling her, knocking Buffy to the mattress and the Lucky Charms to the floor. Buffy squealed as Spike pinned her arms down. “Oh yeah? Who’s on top this time, baby?”
Buffy just grinned before she wrapped her legs around his waist and flipped their positions, wresting her hands free so she could pin his instead. “Me. And you love it.”
The grin Spike gave her in response was all the answer she needed.
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