Strip poker. Of course it would be, Buffy thought to herself. With her best impression of Willow’s resolve face she looked Spike straight into his smug eyes.
“Fine, I figured you’d come up with something like this! But NO cheating. I mean it mister. If you cheat you’ll be dead meat! Well, dead-er anyway.”
Spike looked at the grim resolve that marred Buffy’s features and said, “Alright luv, no cheatin’. You know the rules yeah? So for every hand you lose, you take off one piece of kit.”
“You mean that for every hand you loose, you take off a piece of your kit,” Buffy mocked back at him.
Spike smiled, “Yeah whatever you say Slayer.”
Dealing out a fresh hand of cards to each of them, Spike placed the rest of the deck on the lid of the sarcophagus. He mused over his own hand, debating his next move and wondering if he should go easy on her the first round. Give her some confidence so she would play worse later. If there was one thing he figured himself good at, it was poker. After choosing which of his five cards he would exchange, he tossed them into a waste pile and looked up at Buffy. Her nose was scrunched up in concentration, her pink tongue stuck between her teeth. She looked adorable.
“Right, how many cards then pet?” he asked, grabbing the deck and shaking himself out of his thoughts.
Buffy couldn’t remember which was better, a full house or a straight. Maybe she should have played a few more hands before she made that stupid remark. Looking at the two Aces in her hands she decided to just go with it and see what happened. She was wearing more clothes than him after all, hopefully that would be an advantage.
“Three,” Buffy discarded her old cards into the same pile that Spike had earlier. Spike dealt her three from the top and she resumed her pondering. “So do we bet or something now? Is that how it works? Or do I just show you my cards and then win?” She smiled brilliantly at him, full of liquid courage.
Spike perused the two new cards he dealt himself and arranged them in his hand. Looking up at her he said, “well either or Slayer. If we bet you stand to loose more than if we show our hands right away. May be best to just show me what you’ve got.”
“Okay,” Buffy placed her cards face-up on the table. “Three Aces! Beat that vampire!” She exclaimed.
Spike huffed and put his hand containing a pair of kings down. He still wasn’t sure this was going according to plan.
“Ha!” Buffy smiled triumphantly. “I win this one. That’s one piece off for you!” She watched as Spike glared at her and pulled off one of his big black boots which hit the floor of the crypt with a resonant thump.
“I’m soooo gonna beat you!” Buffy couldn’t help giggling as Spike resumed the game by dealing new sets of cards to each of them.
“Don’t be too confident Slayer,” Spike grumbled in his low voice. “We’ve only jus’ started.”
The next hand was dealt and played with Spike winning the second hand with a full house. Buffy’s eyes shot daggers as she shrugged out of her denim jacket, some of her earlier bravado evaporating. Maybe she shouldn’t have counted her chickens already. She poured herself more whiskey and steeled herself for both the taste and the next round. With grim determination she played the next hands on edge, winning one and loosing another.
“Not so confident anymore are we pet?” Spike smiled, leaning towards Buffy who was down a jacket and a stylish boot. The loss of his own boots was taken as a necessary set back. He knew he’d get her naked in the end, his cockiness and self-confidence heightening with each of Buffy’s losses.
“Shut up Spike,” came Buffy’s irate reply.
“Oh how very original Blondie. Think of that one all by yourself?” Spike’s smirk grew as he stared in the green eyes before him glittering in anger.
“Surprisingly enough, yeah I did, Fang Face. Gotta stick with the classics,” Buffy organized her next hand during the bantering, hoping that the new cards would give her something she could use or she’d loose a second hand in a row.
“Alright, time to spread em’!” he couldn’t resist the innuendo as it caused Buffy to flush in a delightful fashion. He felt safe with his own version of a flush, all Spades, ready to win the next hand.
Buffy threw her useless cards on the table and without a word stripped off one of her socks, aiming it straight into Spike’s self-satisfied smirk.
“Oh, Slayer’s lost two in a row. Better alert ol’ Rupes. Wouldn’t want a vamp of my repute compromising his darlin’ Slayer,” Spike had easily caught the soft missile and was laughing at Buffy’s rage contorted face. She would loose this game. He would see to it.
After recovering her composure and sticking her tongue out at Spike as a retort Buffy asked, “So what do I get when I win? Besides your utter humiliation at being naked AND beaten by me, again.”
“Suppose we shoulda figured that out at the beginnin’,” Spike drawled. Curling his tongue behind his teeth, with a trademark smirk he asked, “what do you want besides seein’ my hot lil’ body on display that is?’
Buffy flushed scarlet from head to toe. She wouldn’t admit that the way Spike looked, all cockiness and sex appeal, had any effect on her whatsoever, and instead concentrated on a fitting prize for the win. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and it was Buffy’s turn to smirk evilly.
“Your coat. I win and it’s mine.”
Spike couldn’t wipe the stunned expression off his face after hearing what she wanted as a prize.
“No bleedin’ way Slayer. It’s mine! I won it fair n’ square before you were even a fleetin’ thought in your mum’s brain!” he clutched the duster protectively around him, glaring at her, eyes flashing yellow for a brief instant. “Pick somethin’ else. You’re not getting’ m’ coat.”
“Oh Spikey, I think it’s an excellent idea,” Buffy continued on, knowing she picked the one thing that meant something to him. “There’s nothing else of yours I want. Besides, anything else I would ask for you’d steal to get so this way I know you won’t do something illegal. And, bonus, you wouldn’t cheat to keep it cuz it’s all sentimental and stuff,” her green eyes twinkling in delight at his horrified expression.
Spike was angry. How dare she ask for the duster, his hard earned battle prize? Well he’d show her who was the better warrior, regardless of their current form of weapon and battleground.
“Fine Slayer,” he growled menacingly, “you win, you get the coat. And if I win…” He purposefully trailed off, apparently in deep thought.
Buffy wasn’t sure that it had been such a hot idea to demand the coat as her prize when she looked at the determination and red hot angry glare Spike bestowed on her. His blue eyes were flecked with gold and were almost mesmerizing in their cold intensity. She could hardly find her voice to ask him what he intended to win from her.
“A kiss,” the cold intensity in Spike’s eyes darkened slightly with his proclamation. “If I win I get to kiss you, Slayer”
“W-what?” Buffy stammered, “A kiss? All you want is a kiss.”
“Yeah, pet, all I want is a kiss,” Spike looked deeply into her green eyes where her emotions formed a turbulent storm. He saw her indecision, fear, and perhaps a hint of intrigue flash through them before giving way to her usual steely determination.
“Fine. ONE kiss. IF you win,” Buffy said with finality, then smiled, her competitive side once again ruling her mind, “which you won’t of course. Let’s play!”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
I'm sorry about the delay in posting this chapter. Our internet connnection went down and the day we got it back my computer crashed. Did I mention how much I love technology? Right, I don't ;) But I hope you all enjoy nonetheless! And thanks for all the nice reviews for the first chapter guys! *smiles* It made my day!