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Chapter 19

Buffy sat in a corner booth by herself. Her half-eaten sandwich was still on the plate while she listlessly swirled a cold french fry in a pile of ketchup.

“Gee, Buff, you trying to drown that thing? Why the long face?”

“I blew it.”

“So you stood up a group of stodgy old Watchers, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Plenty,” Buffy replied with a discreet sniffle. “I miss one meeting, and…well, let’s just say I’m a victim of the domino-effect.”

“Alright, just tell the Xan-man all about it. Unload. Share your tale of woe with me.”

“There isn’t much to say,” Buffy began as her friend sat across from her. Dependable, loveable Xander. He’d freak out more than anyone once he found out about her love affair with Spike. After the Initiative had implanted the chip in Spike’s head, he was forced to hide out in Xander’s basement for a few days. And, it was needless to say, their time together as constantly bickering roommates had done nothing to bring them closer. They hated each other.

“What are you doing here, Xan? Isn’t it a little late for a lunch break?”

“The construction site shut down early today. Too much wind. Since the lunch Anya packed me was a little on the wimpy side, I decided to come here for some extra eats. May I?”

“Eat away.” She pushed her plate across the table.

“And now for the woe. Lay it on me.”

“Okay,” she said, shifting anxiously in her chair. Surely she could talk to one of her oldest friends. She’d just leave out the Spike-related details. “I was a smidge late and--.”

“A smidge? Wasn’t it five hours?” Xander remarked with a snicker. “Buffy, that’s one hell of a smidge.”

“Hey, if you know the story, why should I bother with a rehash?”

“Sorry, sorry, please continue. So there was a smidge. What caused this smidge?”

“Um…Slayer duties,” she answered eventually. Her fingers drummed against the table as she searched for the perfect excuse: an excuse that wouldn’t be riddled with lies. “I was out late, killing a Glory-related bad guy. I was gathering valuable information. It wasn’t like I was goofing off. Maybe I did kinda sleep in, but, don’t I deserve some victory z’s? Since I was late, Quentin Travers now thinks I’m a major screw up. He doesn’t think I’m worthy of his Glory info. He wants to test me, Xander. And that worries me. The Council put me through that test that sucked out my powers, and it almost killed me. And then, when I was Faith, they almost killed me again. Honestly, I really can’t handle almost being killed right now.”

“’Cause Glory’s a god, right?”

“Yeah, but I’m also kinda partial to not fighting for my life every time the Council gets the urge to test me.”

“God, I hate that guy! That Quentin guy, and those nasty…Watchers! You have enough to worry about! You don’t need those guys on your case!”

“Thanks.” Buffy looked down with slight smile as Xander spoke with his mouth full and shook his fist in the air. “I’m not fond of them either. And that goes for all Watchers.”

“Giles gave you a hard time?”

“He did. Some of the things he said to me… I know I embarrassed him. I disappointed him, but…I’m just not very happy with him right now.”

“Hey, you and Giles will make up.”

“Mm,” she answered, light-lipped.

“So, uh…” Xander popped the last of the cold french fries into his mouth. “Speaking of people we’re not fond of, I hear you had a run in with Captain Peroxide yesterday.”

“Now that’s a graceful segue.” Rolling her eyes, she sunk down deeper in the booth. “Okay, who talked to you and what was said exactly?”

“Willow did the talking and she said you’re guilty of defending our favorite mass-murdering demon.”

“Ex.”

“What?”

“Spike’s an ex-mass-murdering demon.”

“So it’s true?”

“Isn’t Anya a mass-murdering demon? Oh no, I forgot. She’s a former mass-murdering demon, but no one gripes when she’s around. Isn’t she lucky.” The words fell out of her mouth before she knew what she was saying. She forced a weak laugh when Xander’s eyes grew wide. “Spike is—he’s helping me, okay? I wish everyone would just settle down when it comes to him. He’s a strong vampire. We should be grateful to have him on our side.”

“Grateful?” Xander squeaked. From his voice alone, Buffy knew he was smarting from what she’d said about his girlfriend. She’d done the unthinkable by comparing Anya to the vampire he loathed. “There is no reason to be grateful when he’s around. Ever.”

“That’s your opinion.”

“Buffy--.”

“No, I won’t do this every time I turn around. Spike’s helpful. We need help. End of story and end of discussion.”

“So you’re using him.” Inwardly Buffy flinched as a look of relief instantly softened Xander’s features. “Now I get it. You’re not really all gung ho for Spike, you’re just keeping him around for the manpower. And if he’s a casualty of war? No harm, no foul. That makes sense. Good thinking, Buffy.”

She wanted to correct him so badly. “Yeah, that’s me,” she grumbled. “A thinker of many great things.”

“I’ll have to spread the word. Willow will be relieved. For a few crazy minutes she actually thought there was something going on between you and Spike.”

“What made her think that?” Buffy asked, interrupting Xander’s laugher.

“Well, I guess Dawn made a few questionable comments--.”

“Figures,” she whispered, rolling her eyes again.

“And Will said you seemed bizarrely protective of the vampire freak last night.”

“Well,” she responded simply, making a point not to deny or confirm anything. “Xan, I think I’m going to take off.”

“Oh. Okay. Did our chat help? You don’t seem so down anymore. Is it because you’re horrified by what Will thought? Now you’re too grossed out to beat yourself up over missing the meeting with the Council?” He found her hand and gave it a sympathetic squeeze while he smiled at her warmly. “I’m sorry for bringing it up, but we were concerned. We thought you might’ve gone off the deep end. Willow and I were about to stage an intervention.”

“Seriously?” Buffy asked. Her stomach sank. “You’d really do that? Just because I…” She searched for the right words, but everything seemed too ridiculous. Her friends would stage an intervention because she defended Spike? Because she had treated him like a man, and not a monster, in front of them?

Oh, this wasn’t a good sign.

“Of course we would, Buffy. That’s how much we love our Buffster.”

“Oh. Great. That’s…great,” she said with a fake grin plastered on her face.
***

“Okay. Buffy wants me, to ask you, if you’ll walk me home.”

“She isn’t coming over at sundown?”

“Nope,” Dawn answered, reading the screen of her cell phone. “She wants you to stick around at our house and sleep over tonight. In the guestroom. Yeah right, like that’ll happen.” Dawn rolled her eyes. “Anyway. She’s gonna patrol the neighborhood, then she’s heading to the Magic Box. She’s got to…study? Now that’s just strange. She’s been ditching class daily since Tuesday and now she cares about school?”

As Spike hovered over a box of his burnt belongings, he watched Dawn text her sister with remarkable speed.

“Yeah, it’s what I thought. Okay, this makes more sense. She’s studying for that Watcher test tomorrow.”

“What Watcher test?” Spike asked, wiping his dirty hands off on a rag. He and Dawn were spending another afternoon sorting through the rubble in his crypt. They had an organized system in place where Spike would search for anything that looked somewhat salvageable then Dawn would tell him if it was actually worth saving. She had absolutely no problem telling him if his junkyard finds were crap, and that they probably were so even before Harmony had trashed his place.

“I don’t really know the details, because—well, hello, no one tells me anything, but…” Dawn inhaled deeply. Then she revealed everything she knew on only one breath. “Giles called this morning in a panic because he couldn’t find Buffy. He was, like, borderline hysterical. He rambled on about the Council and about Buffy’s worthiness and about a review. I overheard that the Council had, like, top-secret Glory information. Maybe they think she isn’t worthy of it now so they’re testing and reviewing her?”

“Because she missed a meeting? What the hell does she have to prove to those people? What would a test even tell them? She’s the Slayer. Who else could they enlighten with their precious information that could actually do something about it, but her?”

“I don’t know,” Dawn shrugged.

“I wonder if that’s even dawned on her,” Spike muttered, shaking his head. “They need her. It isn’t the other way around. She’s got the strength, the brains and the bloody title. The fucking Council isn’t fit to lick her sodding boots, but that’s exactly what they should be doing.”

“Wow. “

“What? Everything I said is true and you know it.”

“Yes, but you support a very Buffy-friendly, Buffy-does-no-wrong kind of truth. You guys have got to be together now. She was with you this morning, wasn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

Spike gave the girl a sideways glance as her face turned red. She was so much like her big sister; their similarities floored him. “Were you expecting a lie, bit?”

“No, I just…yes, I guess I was.”

“Dawn, I promise you it wasn’t like how you’re thinking in that dirty mind of yours. She slept. She was in the bed. I was in the chair.”

Until she climbed up in the chair with me, he finished silently. We shared a cuddle then she fucked me good and proper. Afterward, she touched my face, whispered an IOU and blew me a bloody air kiss that left me feeling like an utter sap, rock hard and aching for her all over again.

“Spike?”

“Yeah, pet?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me just about anything.”

“Am I in danger?”

“What makes you think such a thing?” Letting the rag drop from his hands, he walked to Dawn and stood in front of her as she sat on the crypt’s sarcophagus. “Is it because I’m watching over you after school?”

“Yes,” she admitted with a heavy sigh. “Buffy has always been protective, but now—I can’t do anything without a chaperone! I can’t go to Janice’s house anymore! I can’t stay at my own house without someone there!”

“I see.”

“I like spending time with you, but—but this is crazy!”

“I see…” With his head slanted to one side, he looked at Dawn thoughtfully. “Big sis is just keeping you safe, that’s all.”

“From what? From Glory? I don’t know anything about her dumb Key! I’d be the last person she’d want to torture for information!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Spike said. As he spoke, Doc’s last words about the Key nagged at him. Monks made it into a person, he had said. Spike knew nothing about any monks, only that they’d be pretty smart—and not to mention unfairly cruel—to tuck the Key into someone the Slayer loved. They’d have her defending their precious Key to the end. “You should realize how valuable you could be to a baddie, bit. Kidnap you, hurt you—or your mother, or even one of the bloody Scoobies—and suddenly the Slayer has to make some very tough calls.”

“Why didn’t you ever kidnap me?”

“’Cause I never had that intense of a death wish,” he snorted. “I got the witch once. Willow? But that had nothing to do with hurting Buffy. I just wanted Red to do me a love spell.”

“I just…this Key stuff, it’s ruining my social life.”

“Excuse me while I cry you a river.” He lifted himself up so he could sit on the hard stone sarcophagus at her side. “You think my social life is hopping when I’m here babysitting you every day?”

“Oh please,” Dawn responded with light giggle. “As if you care about socializing with anyone but my sister.”

“And who would you like to be socializing with?” Spike asked, raising his brow. “You still hung up on what’s-his-name? He, who I’ve been sworn to secrecy over? The guy I saw you snogging on at the Bronze?”

“His name is Kevin,” Dawn answered with another blush. “But I’m not talking about him. I’m fourteen, Spike. I need to get out there and enjoy my childhood. You’re a moldy old vampire. You’ve done a lifetime of…stuff. I’ve done nothing. And I will continue to do nothing if I’m stuck here or stuck at home every day until I die.”

“Or just until Glory dies. See, there’s glimmer of hope for you.”

“Yeah right,” she sighed. “You’re just lucky I think you’re cool, or I’d be putting up a total fight. F.Y.I., I have a long history of turning my babysitters into nutcases. I lock them out of house, trick them, and I make them cry.”

“Have you ever had a sitter who’s killed people with railroad spikes before?”

“No, but can you tell me about that?” She grabbed his arm and suddenly she wasn’t moping about being trapped anymore. “Can you tell me about you and Drusilla?”

“Alright, well, that’s more than just a little unsettling. Especially coming from my girl’s little sis. She wants to know about me and Dru? You trying to build up blackmail against me, pet?”

“I knew you and Buffy were together! I totally called it and you just confirmed it!” She laughed out loud and then continued on breathlessly, “But honestly, tell me about the time you let a whole bunch of people you were about to kill go, just because Buffy threatened to hurt Drusilla. Buffy used to say it was one of the hottest things she’d ever seen. She said the moment she got a hold of Drusilla you, like, gave up, but in a hot-way and not a wimp-way. She said that’s when she knew vampires, even crazy-evil ones without souls, were capable of love.”

“She said that?”

“Totally.”

“She—wait, hang on, should I believe you? Is this your way of trying to turn me into a nutcase?”

“What do you think? You know, if I wanted to, I could have you going crazy-nuts. In seconds. Buffy would be my not-so-secret, secret weapon. You’re way too easy to mess with.”

“Tell me about it,” he snickered softly. Then he gave her a nudge with his elbow, “But are you messing with me? Dawnie, did she tell you those things?” When she just smiled, he ran his fingers through his hair. “Right. If we can go back to our sorting and cleaning, I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Within reason.”

“Cool,” Dawn said. Still smiling, she followed Spike back to the boxes.
***

“Hi, all. How is everyone? Mom, how are you feeling? Dawn, how was school?” After patrolling and a brutal, multi-hour, guilt-driven workout, Buffy jogged into the living room. “Forgive the appearance,” she panted, gesturing to her red face, messy bun and workout attire. “If everyone’s okay, I’m going to shower and turn in early.”

With her hands on her hips, she quickly swept over the room. Her mother, sister, and new boyfriend were seated around the television, but she was the center of attention. Joyce looked concerned. Dawn had her nose wrinkled. Spike’s face was blank, but he was watching her closely, and Buffy felt as if his stare was drilling holes through her.

“Okay, well, goodnight. I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow, but not until after nine.”

“Buffy…?” Her mother said her name, but Buffy was already up the stairs. “What’s gotten into her?”

“She’s got a test tomorrow.”

“At school?” Joyce asked. “Isn’t it too soon for finals? She isn’t usually this jittery unless she’s--.”

“It’s Slayer-related jitters,” Dawn explained further. “The Council’s in town.”

“Girls, if you’ll excuse me…”

Upstairs, Buffy’s eyes grew wide. She didn’t wait to hear anything else. She ran into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

He wouldn’t really come up here. Not while I’m in the bathroom. Not while my family’s sitting downstairs on the couch.

She turned on the shower and started to take off her clothes.

Then she heard a light knock on the door.

“Whoever you are, go away,” she called out. Naked and with her hair down, she stepped into the tub and closed the shower curtain. With her eyes shut, she stood under the warm spray of water.

“Buffy, we need to talk.”

“No, you need to go away.”

“Why have you been crying?

The question made her pause. How did Spike know that? How could he? Her tears had dried hours ago. Had someone spoken to him? Had Giles confronted him?

“What do you mean?” Buffy demanded, pulling back the curtain enough to stick out her head. Suddenly she and Spike were nose-to-nose. “Oh. Hi.”

“Hello,” he said, capturing her lips in a quick kiss that took her breath away. “Now that’s a proper greeting compared to the shit you pulled downstairs.”

“Shit? There was no shit. I said hello--.”

“And then you promptly said sod off two seconds later. Are you avoiding me?”

“No. No, I’m not. You just shouldn’t be in here. They know you’re in here.”

“I don’t plan on joining you. Unless you’d like me to.” With the tip of his finger, he brushed the water droplets off her nose. “Would you like that, Buffy? You know, it’s a pity this curtain isn’t transparent. I could be getting quite the peep show right about now. Do me a favor, love, leave the curtain open a bit and drop the soap. I haven’t had a proper view of your naked backside thus far.”

“There is no way. Spike, I will not--.”

“Who made you cry, baby?”

Buffy let out a barely noticeable whimper as his thumb ran across her lower lip. “Why are you so—Spike, you can’t be rude one minute and all charming in the next, with your—your concerned face and silky touches.”

“Why not?”

“Because I find it annoying.”

“You do?” he replied with a pleased smirk.

“Yes, and I’d rather not be annoyed right now.”

“Slayer, I think you’re avoiding me. Did I make you upset somehow? I want you to talk to me. Now. And if you say you can’t or won’t until tomorrow at nine in the bloody morning, I won’t accept that as an answer.”

“I—okay, fine! I’ll talk to you! Just give me, like, five minutes! I-I’m wasting water!” She yanked on the curtain and finished her shower. Her body buzzed the entire time, knowing that Spike was in the same room as she washed herself. Although the curtain appeared opaque, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was seeing a lot more than he let on. And she knew it shouldn’t matter—she was sleeping with the guy—but the intimacy of the moment made her breath ragged just the same.

Without saying a word, she turned off the water. She reached for a towel from the rack on the wall and wrapped it securely around her hair. Then she boldly opened the curtain, ready to dive for the other towel that was farther down on the rack, but it wasn’t there. Spike had it in his hands.

“You want it? Come and get it,” he said, stretching the towel out wide.

“Just when I think you can’t get anymore ridiculous…” Rolling her eyes, but with an amused giggle, she walked into his open arms. As he hugged the towel around her, she kissed his smirking lips. Her arms wove around his neck, and she laughed again once the towel dropped abruptly. He even knocked the turban off her head, allowing her soaked hair to fall down in waves. He yanked her naked body flush against him, apparently not caring that she was getting him wet.

“I…I made a promise to myself,” she gasped, no longer laughing once one of his hands started to knead her breast while the other wouldn’t stop squeezing her ass. “I won’t have sex with you tonight. No matter what. I won’t do it.”

“You won’t?” He looked up at her, slowly releasing her other nipple from his mouth. “And why’s that? Your family—Buffy, the girls couldn’t care less.”

She ran a hand through his hair, instantly sensitive to the whine she detected in his voice. “Oh, they care, but that isn’t why. I’m cutting myself off. I’ll talk to you, but I won’t sleep with you.”

“Because of what happened this morning?”

Nodding, she kissed him chastely and removed his hands from her body. She gathered up one of the towels, bunched it around herself and headed into her room. “Giles knows about us,” she said once they were behind her closed door. “I told him.”

“And?”

“He wasn’t thrilled. He said…some stuff.” As she spoke, she pulled on a pair of underwear and a simple t-shirt style nightgown. “I saw Xander this afternoon too. He doesn’t know about us, but that didn’t stop him from--.”

“What did that twat say? Did he make you cry?”

“Don’t call him that, and no, Xander did not make me cry.”

“So it was the Watcher.”

“Spike, I screwed up a lot today,” she answered with a frown. “I feel like I failed everyone, and on every front. Bad Slayer, bad friend, bad girlfriend.”

“Because we’re together? Because we had sex? Is sex the problem here?”

“What?” she asked with a laugh. “Uh, no.”

“Then why can’t we have any?”

“One-track mind much? Or is it one-track mind always?” Snorting, she tossed the stuffed animals off her bed. Mr. Gordo ‘accidentally’ bounced off his chest and Spike just stared at her. “Spike, we’ll have sex tomorrow. I promise. Gosh, you’re such a horndog,” she continued, lightly teasing him while she slipped under the bedclothes. She stayed sitting up straight and scooted over to make room for him. “Hey, don’t pout. Come here. Sit with me.”

“I’ll stand for now if you don’t mind. Just keep talking, because, pet, I’m not following.”

“I embarrassed Giles. The Council has always criticized him because he doesn’t control me well.”

“He shouldn’t control you at all.”

“I know that and he knows that. But the Watchers think he’s irresponsible because he lets—no, because he allows me to be irresponsible.”

“It was one bloody meeting--.”

“It was important and I missed it. Now they’re determined to find other examples of my irresponsibility and all-around unworthiness.” Standing on her knees, she shuffled to the edge of the bed and looked up at Spike through her lashes. “Giles thinks you’re the number one example of my rotten decision making.”

She saw anger flicker in his eyes and tried to snuff it out with a kiss, but it didn’t work. For the first time, Spike didn’t kiss her back. He didn’t reach for her either. He stayed rigid.

“A challenge?” she smiled. She kissed his non-responsive mouth again. She took her time, enjoying herself as she tugged at his lips. “Come on, Spike, I shouldn’t have to tell you that I think he’s wrong.”

“I’d like to hear you say it anyway.”

“Okay.” Shrugging, she settled back on the bed. “Giles is wrong.”

“What upset you? What did he say?”

“Nothing much. Just that you’re no good. You’re evil. You can’t be trusted. You’re going to humiliate me. You’ll hurt my feelings. You’ll grow tired of me.”

“What?”

Buffy looked down, annoyed that she was becoming emotional again. “I don’t think he meant to poke at such a sore spot, but he stabbed it pretty hard. All Buffy’s boyfriends get tired of her sooner or later, but so far it’s been heavy on the sooner,” she mumbled. “Nobody stays with me too long. It’s a fact.”

“He said that? He actually said that to you?”

She nodded reluctantly, blinking away a tear. “Then I saw Xander. He thinks I’m using you for your strength and vampire super powers. Which I was, in a way, for a little while…in the beginning. He said if something happened to you, it’d be no big, and I didn’t correct him. I didn’t have the heart to fight with Xander too. And I messed up,” she said, looking at her fingers. “Giles blames you for this morning now. I have no doubt about it. Xander’s telling everyone that I’m using you--.”

“So you’ve decided to let them win by avoiding me and refusing to sleep with me?”

“What? God, Spike, is sex really the only thing on your mind? I’m not refusing you. My friends—I wasn’t thinking about them. I jumped you like a hussy earlier and I don’t want to rush us like that again. You’ve been filling me up with these pipe dreams about amazing, fantastic, unhurried sex. I-I want that. I want no interruptions and I want you to--.”

“Babe, you should stop talking.”

“God, you’re right,” she said. “I feel dumb. I’m blushing again, aren’t I?”

“You are not dumb, my love…my beautiful, irresistible hussy.”

“Okay. Maybe it’d be in your best interest if we all stopped talking,” Buffy said, glaring at him as he finally joined her on the bed. “It’s like you haven’t been listening to me at all. Once I said I wouldn’t sleep with you tonight, you checked out. I thought we were more than sex--.”

“Don’t say another word. If you’ll shut up, I’ll apologize.” When she crossed her arms in a huff, he leaned in to kiss her temple. He sought out her bare knee and gave it a squeeze. “I’m sorry. Will you please hear me out? When you said you were cutting yourself off, I thought you were punishing yourself. Like some martyr, alright? You said you wronged this person and that person—it pissed me off, especially since you’ve done nothing wrong. And you are right, what you were saying wasn’t quite sinking in. I thought you were pushing me away because of them. I couldn’t focus on anything else.”

“I wouldn’t do that--.”

“Hush, I’m not done. I thought--.”

“Yes, you are done. You hush and you shut up,” Buffy demanded. “I love my friends, but you’re my boyfriend now.”

“Yeah, I am,” he muttered, fighting back a smile. “Does this mean I trump your precious Scoobies?”

“I’m not answering that. Whatever I say will just go to your head.”

“You’ve got me pegged.” He opened his arms and Buffy crawled to him. He poured his affection for her into a sultry kiss that made her moan. He whispered into her ear and said, “I hate that they hurt you by badmouthing me. I can’t stand it. And that fucking Watcher of yours--.”

“Do we have to talk about that?”

“No.”

“Good.”

“Just know that I won’t leave you. Not by choice. In fact, you’re never getting rid of me.”

Swallowing, she wiped imaginary crumbs off his chest as her eyes threatened to grow misty again. “So it’s once a stalker, always a stalker?”

“It’s something like that,” he said softly, rubbing her lower back. “Slayer, I want you to let Rupert blame me. Let Xander think whatever he can squeeze out of his pea-sized brain. And the Council? You have nothing to prove to them. You’re the Slayer. They need you. Look at how much we’ve learned, just you and me on our own. Buffy, if you insist on taking their test, at least let me help you. I don’t exactly know how you studied earlier, other than running yourself to tatters, but, I think we should spar.”

“Huh?” she croaked, still battling her emotions.

“You heard me. We should give it a try. I’ll go in with you tomorrow. As early as you want. You can consider me a warm-up for whatever they throw at you. I’ll take the tunnels home.”

“The chip--.”

“It won’t be a problem. I won’t hurt you.”

“But Giles. I don’t want conflict.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” he began, hugging her tight. “Your friends and I, we’re conflict-ridden, but I’ll do my best to play nice. You have my word.”

“Thank you. That means a lot.” She let out a sigh of relief and almost laughed out loud, amazed by how much lighter she felt after talking to Spike, hearing his opinions and receiving his promises. “Spike, I really do need to go to sleep.”

“Is that my cue to head back downstairs?”

“I guess that’s up to you. If you’re interested in sharing my bed and sleeping in it, you can stay. If you want more, I think it’d be best if you slept in the guestroom.”

“You do realize I don’t have to consider my options. To choose between holding you while you sleep and being in a bed alone, pining for you? It’s a no brainer.”

“Oh, okay.” A warm tingling feeling shot to heart and between her legs simultaneously. “Do you have something to sleep in? Your clothes are still kinda damp.”

“Joyce was kind enough to weed through her closet for some of your father’s clothing. I believe it’s all piled in a stack on your vanity.”

“Oh, good. Thank God.”

“Why do you say that? Summers, would you protest to me sleeping with you while I’m starkers? Would your desire for my hot naked bod try your unwavering self-control?”

“You’re trying me right now. Period.”

With a laugh, Spike told her to get into bed. And, hidden underneath her blankets, she watched hungrily as he stripped down to nothing and tied a too-big pair of drawstring pajama bottoms around his waist.

“You enjoy the show, pet?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied, rolling onto her side. Her heart sped up as he scooted behind her, curling his body against hers. His hand automatically went under her nightgown, hiking it up to her waist.

“Baby, relax.”

“I don’t think I can. Not if you keep doing that. Spike, please,” she groaned softly as he stroked her hip. He tangled their legs together and her eyes fluttered to a close. “I never said I didn’t want you so don’t torture me.”

Snorting, his hand traveled farther up her nightgown. This time he wrapped his arm snuggly around her stomach. “Is this alright?” he asked, his lips against the back of her neck. “Are you comfortable?”

“I don’t know if I’d use that word. I’m battling my inner hussy as we speak and she’s putting up one hell of a fight. She wants you real bad.” Before Spike could reply, she rolled over and swallowed up his smiling lips in a deep kiss. “I want you bad.”

“Buffy--.”

“You should go downstairs.”

“What? No, I’m not leaving--.”

“Please?” she asked even as she kissed him again. “Spike, I can’t--.”

“Yes, you bloody-well can,” Spike proclaimed. Breaking their kiss, he prompted her to roll over again. He caught the hem of her nightgown and yanked it down as far as it would go. “Close your eyes and relax. Forget the tension buzzing between us. Ignore it.”

“That’s easy for you to say. My tension isn’t poking you in the back.”

“No, but I can smell exactly how wet you are.”

“Spike,” Buffy croaked as his arm came across her again. “Don’t say things like that.”

“Think about how my arm feels around you--.”

“That’s all I can think about.”

“Blast you and your silly idea to cut yourself off.”

“I have to get up in a few hours. I’ve been thinking about our next time together all day. I’ve been obsessing about it. I can’t do everything I want to do for you and get a full night’s sleep and wake up freaking early--.”

“That’s it.” Mumbling a curse, he threw back the blankets and headed for the door.

“Spike?”

“I’m sleeping in the bloody guestroom. You’re about to drive me up the bloody walls.”

“Oh. Won’t you at least kiss me goodnight?”

“You’re insufferable,” he said, storming back to her. He hovered over her and kissed her until she couldn’t breathe or see straight. “Why can’t anything be easy with you?”

“I don’t know.” As she panted, she couldn’t stop smiling. “Guess I just want you too much. I’m sure it’ll wear off eventually.”

“It’d better not.” He gave her a kiss on the forehead and muttered a quiet ‘goodnight.’

“Goodnight, Spike,” Buffy replied. Once he closed her bedroom door, she continued to grin. She nodded off, thinking of her new boyfriend, with a smile still on her face.
***





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