After Spike had fought for Dawn, five other girls were given the chance of freedom from the King. There wasn’t a man in the arena that stepped up for them so no battles were fought. However, the sixth girl, close to the same age as Dawn, had a young man that wanted to fight. The young girl stood there with her small stature waiting for the battle to begin. The boy couldn’t have been much older than Dawn and he desperately wanted to save the girl.
Dawn leaned towards Buffy’s ear. “That’s Titana. She was supposed to marry Ogie,” she pointed to the boy getting ready to fight, “but her father refused, wanting the money the King offered for her to be part of his concubines. Ogie is going to fight to win her back.”
Buffy gasped in surprise. “He’s so young. Is he a warrior?”
“I don’t know. When I spoke to Titana she said that Ogie was only a hunter; her father didn’t think him worthy of her love so she was sent to live her life in the fortress.”
The alarm sounded for the battle to begin and both girls look towards the arena floor. Buffy cringed at the damage the warrior was doing to the boy. His fighting technique was very poor and it looked like he was already ready to give up. She held her breath, forcing herself not to jump out of her seat to help him. The warrior looked to be ready to give the final blow.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang as the arena gates flew open. Spike ran out and towards Engina. Words were exchanged and then the boy was carried out of the arena and Spike took his place. Engina shot a lightning bolt into the air and the battle began. Buffy gasped as she realized Spike was fighting in this young man’s place. She was very proud but also afraid. He was still badly injured and bleeding from his own battle.
Dawn held Buffy’s hand as they watched Spike in battle, yet again.
Spike dodged punches but the warrior made impact, too. He managed to get a few good hits in but the guard was still strong even when Spike wavered. Dawn gasped as she saw how bruised and battered Spike was fast becoming while the guard seemed well protected behind his armor. The guard swayed once when Spike landed a fist in his face but he just put down a facemask, hiding his face but obstructing his vision so his punches were easier to miss. Spike kicked him in his side and the guard rolled over to protect his sides with his hands as he used his feet on Spike. The guard was resourceful; Buffy had to give him that but Spike was stronger. The guard managed to get a good kick into Spike’s ribs, hard enough to definitely break whatever ribs were not broken before he landed the kick. Spike staggered back in pain and almost fell over. Dawn squeezed Buffy’s hand tighter as Spike looked more determined as he spun around, landing one kick after another into the guard’s sides, making him double over in pain. The guard didn’t stay down though and stood right back up to land a kick to Spikes nose and breaking it. Buffy gasped as well as Dawn but Spike merely ran a hand over his nose, wiping the blood from his eyes from the big gash he had over his head from the guard’s boots. He landed a few punches in the guard’s side again. The guard doubled over in pain as Spike landed a blow to the back of the guard’s head, making him fall down to grunt in pain. Spike stood over him and the count began.
There was a loud crash from a lightning bolt as the arena opened. Spike helped the guard to the sidelines as the girl was released. She gave Spike a hug to say ‘thank you’ before running to the boy and placing kisses over his face. Engina said something to Spike and he was again led to the edge of the arena and allowed to come up to sit with Buffy and Dawn.
Spike sat next to his mate and placed a deep kiss on her lips.
“I am not allowed to compete anymore,” he whispered.
The King laughed. “You look dead Spike. I’d say you aren’t allowed to compete anymore. You broke the rules with the last battle you pulled off. If you didn’t have a world of your own to return to, I’d make you my head guard.”
The King chuckled again and the rest of the ceremony flew by. No more girls were challenged for and the King had twenty-one girls to choose from. The one Dawn knew would win, did indeed win and she was taken away from the other girls to be purified for her wedding night. The King laughed happily at how beautiful his new wife would be and disappeared from sight as the rest of the villagers left as well.
Spike looked at Buffy. “I need rest.”
Dawn whispered, “Are we staying the night? I get to keep my quarters for the night.”
Buffy smiled looking at both Spike and Dawn. “I was thinking Spike can heal and if he’s feeling up to it tomorrow, we can spend our last day here in the sun to enjoy the day. We can take a swim at the beach and take a walk through the gardens before talking to Engina about leaving. How does that sound?”
Dawn cheered. “I can’t wait to see more of this place. Is it beautiful out there?”
Spike chuckled with the last energy he had and said, “Just wait and see, platelet. So we will see you in the morning?” Dawn nodded as she patted Fuzzball and Dusty before she skipped away to leave the love birds alone.
Spike had a horrible limp and bruises all over his body as Buffy helped him back to the room.
He whispered, “Mind if I feed? I just can’t make love to you tonight. I can make you feel good. I promise.”
Buffy kissed Spike. “No need to make me feel good. Tomorrow night we will be in my bed at home and we can make love until the morning as long as you’re up to it.”
Spike grinned then grimaced as he whispered, “I’m usually up for it.”
Buffy giggled as she drew a bath, wanting to wash some of the blood off him before they went to sleep. Spike carefully stripped his clothes off his body and stepped into the tub and Buffy followed. She gingerly used the washcloth to wash off the blood and grime, and clean his wounds. She knew he couldn’t get an infection but wanted to make sure they were still clean. Spike gasped and groaned at some of the touches but mostly closed his eyes to enjoy the care she was taking with him. When she had finished she stood up to help him dry off, before using the glue to seal his wounds. He had a large gash on his leg that wouldn’t stop bleeding from where the first guard had used his metal armor on him, one on his forehead from the second guard and one on the back of his head from where he had smacked the ground hard during one of his many falls. He had cuts and bruises across his back but they didn’t require the glue. Buffy bandaged his ribs up carefully with the strips laid out for him and made sure they were secure. She had felt that, at least almost all, the ribs were broken and she knew ribs took a while to heal, even on a vampire. She then let him, carefully, lay down on the bed and laid down next to him, resting her head on his arm and whispered, “I love you William, thank you so, so much for what you did today. I won’t forget this.”
Spike nodded whispering, “I love you, too, Buffy.”
Buffy arched her neck towards him and he gently rubbed over her clit as she moaned and whispered, “Just bite Spike; it still feels good, I promise.”
He nodded and sucked her claim mark, causing her body to convulse with pleasure as he bit down and took some pulls of blood. She immediately relaxed as he ran his arms gently over her arms and through her hair as well as down her back in a soothing motion while he gently pulled blood. He felt her pleasure as well as her love for him and enjoyed the taste, knowing tomorrow hopefully he would be up for the adventure. He felt her relax to the point of where she was almost asleep and pulled out his fangs to lick the wound closed.
“Thank you, luv. Sweet dreams.”
She didn’t answer because she was already sleeping in his arms. His heart swelled at the obvious trust she had for him. He smiled and placed a kiss on her hair as he closed his eyes to sleep.