The two blondes jumped at the sound of the voice that came from the darkness of their suite. Turning the light on, Buffy’s eyes grew large. “Amelia? Hetty?! What are you guys doing in our living room?”

In the surprise of it all, Spike had vamped out, not taking any chances as to whom might be waiting in the dark for them. He turned his amber eyes on the young watcher and scowled. “Bloody hell! Not you!”

The watcher stood up, straightening the wrinkles out of her skirt. “Now, now, Mr. Sinclair, that’s not a way to greet guests, now is it?” The corners of her mouth were turned upwards in a barely restrained grin. Neither blondes had noticed, but their appearance was very telling--ripped clothes, fresh bite marks and scratches. Anyone who didn’t know them would have assumed that they had been attacked, but Amelia knew better, thanks to Hetty.

Clutching the sides of Spike’s coat together--God forbid if either of their ‘guests’ saw the condition of her dress--Buffy spoke up. “Uh, I didn’t exactly take courses by Miss Manners or anything, but guests don’t usually invite themselves in and wait for people in the dark. Why. Are. You. Here?”

That’s my Slayer, Spike thought. Straight to the point, no bullshit. And she loved him... Wait, scratch that last one--no time for poncey thoughts right now. He shook his demon’s visage off and chimed in. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind hearin’ that one, too.”

For the first time since the two blondes had entered the room, Hetty spoke up. “All in due time, my loves. Right now it looks like you both need a bit of freshening up.” She raised an eyebrow at them, making an obvious show at looking them over.

Both vampire and Slayer took a moment to look at themselves. Uh, maybe Hetty was on to something...

“Fine--but you guys stay here. I’m sure we have some talking to do when we’re ‘freshened up’.” Buffy took Spike by the hand and led him to the bedroom area. He gave the two other women a smirk as he was pulled in front of them.

Clothing for both her and Spike balled in her hand, Buffy headed for the bathroom, before being intercepted by Amelia.

“Sorry, dear, but I’ll have to insist that you go in there one at a time. We’d love to get this chat over with sooner rather than later, if you know what I mean.” Looking at Spike, she mimicked the smirk that he had thrown her way just a moment earlier.

Face beet red, the Slayer tossed Spike’s clothing at him before running into the bathroom. Oh, my God, she kept thinking. They know what we did. As she pulled her clothing off, and looked at herself in the mirror, it dawned on her just how obvious their little session had been. She had a number of hickeys on her neck and collarbone, scratch marks on her arms, and--of course--the new set of bite marks. She leaned in towards the mirror and pulled her hair aside to get a better look at them. Rubbing her fingers against the almost-healed punctures--yay slayer healing--she felt a shiver run through her. For some strange reason, Spike’s marks were a new erogenous zone. The Master’s bite hadn’t been like that--that would have been gross beyond words--and both Angel’s and Dracula’s had been tingly, but only for a short while. But Spike’s? All she had to do was think about them, and a rush of heat made its way to her centre. Maybe it had something to do with the claim. She’d have to make a point to ask him when they had a moment to themselves.

The pull towards his new mate was almost more than Spike could handle. He kept wondering if she realized what the reciprocal claim meant. A lifetime together. Would he hold her to that? No, probably not. His demon raged at the thought, but the little bit of logic he had reminded him that she was human. Humans got married, went for picnics in the sun, had kids... They didn’t spend their lives in the dark. He’d resigned himself to spending as much time with her as she’d let him, and to appreciate however much time that was.

The vampire looked at the two women sitting on the sofa. The watcher--well, he could take a guess as to why she was here. They hadn’t succeeded in their mission yet, had they? All they’d pretty much done was gotten into each other‘s knickers. Sure, they’d had a great lead with the babysitter, but that’s about all they had.

But the innkeeper? What the hell was she doing here? Had their shagging disturbed the other guests? Come to think of it, he’d never actually heard anyone else coming or going in the hotel. Old buildings like this had squeaky stairs, and creaky floors. They should have been able to hear people talking through the paper-thin walls... Something was truly off at the Sheffield Arms Hotel.

Tired of staring at the two women, Spike got up and paced a little before speaking up. He had no idea where this Williamesque urge came from--maybe it was one of those little human foibles that had stayed with him--but he offered them something to drink. So un-vampire like of him... “Don’t know if we’ve got much. I know the Slayer keeps a pitcher of water in the icebox, and I know we seem to have an eternal supply of Champagne...” He threw a pointed look at Hetty, who only smiled back.

“Actually, a glass of water would be nice, William.” Although Amelia wasn’t all that thirsty, she just had to experience being served by a vampire. It was just too unreal. Heh--wait till I tell the others this. It’ll ruffle their feathers right nicely...

After what seemed an eternity, the bathroom door opened and a refreshed Slayer came out. “Bout bloody time, Slay.. Buffy.” He had to consciously work on using her given name--he knew that much from the ‘discussion’ they’d had just before entering the restaurant. “Thought you’d never come out.” He handed the two women their drinks and made his way towards the bathroom.

Before Buffy knew it, she was in Spike’s arms and was being thoroughly kissed. An end of the world, last embrace ever kind of kiss. Although she knew he was just showing off in front of Amelia and Hetty, she couldn’t help but feel like she was made of Jell-O. Almost as quickly as it had started, the kiss ended and the vampire walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Her face flushed, her breathing ragged, Buffy had to lean against the wall for support. Catching the eyes of the other two women, she blushed furiously. “I... uh... well...” She just couldn’t find anything to say.

Hetty, feeling bad for the poor girl, spoke up. “That’s alright dear. We’ve all heard of the virtues of a vampire lover. No need to explain.” She winked a turquoise-lidded eye at the Slayer.

Buffy’s mind was racing a mile a minute. “Huh? You know he’s a...”

“I know a lot more than I let on, Buffy Summers. But we won’t get into that until your William comes back out to join us.” The older woman took a sip of water, leaving a bright-pink trace of lipstick on the glass.

Author's Note: Hello again! Four chapters left in reserve--I'm tryin' to write as fast as possible :) The smut's easy, it's the action and actual plot that's harder... Thanks for the kind words you leave me!