[Reviews - 145]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 3770 times

- Text Size +




She really shouldn't have walked out in nothing but a towel, but her robe was in the laundry and she'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes into the bathroom with her after turning on the shower.

There had been four days of living together. They had a routine down, tentative though it was, it was still a routine. Buffy felt like an idiot for bypassing one of the more important unspoken rules: No walking around naked.

But yes, of course, the towel. So not completely with the naked, but still vulnerable. And while Darla was out on the front porch talking on the phone to Dawn, Spike was not.

No, Spike was upstairs, standing in front of Buffy looking like a hungry tiger who'd just run into a weakened little lamb.

Buffy hated being a lamb. She really, really did, but more than that she hated the fact that her skin had run raw with awareness merely from the look the vampire was giving her. The last four days had been a test of both patience and control for the them, honestly. She wanted him, he wanted her, and the only things keeping them apart were Buffy's hesitancy to move too fast in the physical arena, and Darla's well timed appearances.

She didn't know if she truly felt her friend's interruptions were well timed at all, but that was just one more contradictory emotion to add to the list of reasons why She Couldn't Sleep With Spike. None of which did any real good in subduing her hormones.

Now, standing here in front of him wearing nothing but a towel, she was much pinker and more abashed than he was when their roles had been reversed less than a week ago. Spike just opened the door and allowed her to see him practically naked but for the faded towel draped around his hips. Buffy, however, had been so very careful to avoid that kind of confrontation for herself.

A robe was okay, but Spike hadn't seen her in anything less than an oversized sleep shirt or nightgown until now. Now, she was unclothed, with her dripping hair hanging around her bare shoulders making her shiver, while a pink cotton towel covered her torso and just the very tops of her thighs. Her heart rate had increased exponentially.

Spike heard it, felt vibrations surge through him as his fingers twitched. He and Buffy had barely done more than kiss and press each other against kitchen counters the last few days. While they'd talked and come to an easy compromise of moving slowly with their physical relationship- more for her comfort, really -keeping their hands to themselves was something easier said than done.

Every time they touched, Spike only wanted more, and the hardest part was he knew she did, too. But they'd set rules, and now they had to follow them, lest something happen that Buffy might regret.

The fear of that was why Spike shoved his eager hands into his two front pockets, and took a small step back. "Sorry, I didn't-"

"I- I was just going to my room to change."

He nodded. "Right then." He turned and gave her room to pass. "I'll be downstairs."

"Okay."

Buffy practically ran for the bedroom and sighed after shutting the door. The awkwardness there hadn't been one sided, and the only reason Spike should be acting fidgety and distant, was for the same reason she had been.

Temptation was annoying, if you asked her. Stressful and annoying, especially when you couldn't give in to it.

Buffy went to change into some clothes, towel still tightly clasped around her chest. Her legs felt a little wobbly as she let it drop to put on a pair of white underwear and then a matching lace bra.

A knock drew her attention. She frowned and wrapped the towel around her body once again.

Buffy knew it was him before she opened the door, of course, and that did nothing to help her stomach when it decided to start doing flips like a circus performer. Before she could even meet his eyes and ask what he wanted, Spike had leant in and kissed her.

Buffy didn't pull back as her eyes fell closed. All worries from a minute ago simply vanished with the world, and just like his kisses always made her do, she stopped caring about distance and boundaries. She forgot about everything, but him.

She tried to entwine her arms around his neck and pull Spike closer, but that's when he stepped back, hands all to himself and mouth no longer touching hers. She stood there for three full seconds looking like a fish with her lips still puckered, before opening her eyes and frowning. "Wha-"

"I just had to kiss you... do something," he explained, shuffling back. He almost tripped over his own feet, which had to be tough for a vampire with enhanced coordination, and Buffy bet he'd be blushing right now if he could. Spike gave her a quick, shy smile and turned around to leave.

He was giving her space, but simultaneously satisfying an urge, sating the desire to have physical contact in some way with her. Just a kiss. It was the simplest one they'd shared yet. Buffy hadn't even gotten the chance to lose her head completely.

She realized that bothered her. An unconscious pout settled on her lips. Before she could talk herself out of it, she seized Spike's shoulder and spun him back around.

Her heart fluttering, and her mind finally decided to give up its protestations as she stood tall and restarted what he had begun, pressing an urgent but gentle kiss to his slightly swollen lips.

Immediately, Buffy found herself crushed against his body.

Spike released a throaty groan, pushing them both backwards and kicking the door shut. She leaned further into him and he fell against the wood. Control slipped easily away as Spike broke the kiss to press urgent little nips and bites along Buffy's neck. Her sigh of approval did nothing to distract him from the lack of clothing she sported after the towel fell.

She shivered as Spike ran his hands up her waist. Her bra straps were dragged down her shoulders to lay limp about her arms, her hips suddenly pinned between Spike's and the door. Her fingers ran through his bleached curls while he kissed her neck and bit with blunt teeth. Buffy had just lost her breath on another deep sigh of contentment when his mouth found hers again.

Their tongues dueled and tangled together, lips firming and bruising, pulsating heat rising between them. Quickly, Buffy's fingers dove beneath the hem of Spike's T-shirt and began tugging at the garment. Nowhere in her heart or gut did it say she was going too fast, and her brain was far past caring. Their mouths broke apart for a mere second to get his shirt off before coming together again.

Spike groaned and bit her bottom lip, the one that did all that damn pouting, as Buffy's nails scored down his back. He pulled back so she could breathe and cupped her face, noticing her eyes as they ran over his chest. He saw the heat in them, the desire. He had nothing on her.

Spike finally let himself take in the full view of Buffy in nothing but a bra and the scrap of lace clinging to her hips. Her limbs all long and slender, soft skin his to explore; a growl welled up in his throat. "You're gorgeous."

Her hazel eyes shined like firelight. "So are you."

He snickered a bit, pressing his hips into Buffy's and grinding, conjuring a quiet "Oh" from her lips. "A tad rougher around the edges than that, baby."

Her blood was rushing, singing in her veins as she felt her leg being lifted then held at his waist. He pushed harder into her once more. He began a steady rhythm, forceful movements of coarse denim and solidity, making sparks ignite in her chest. She gasped as he kept sliding against her lace guarded clit, getting her to make noises she was pretty sure had never come out of her mouth before.

Spike inhaled greedily as her scent became stronger; the smell of his mate's arousal sent the vampire into a dizzying, zealous spin of longing. Now he realized he could barely handle the wanton firecracker in his arms when they weren't even in bed together, the idea of actually being inside her had him both marveling and greedy. He wanted to know.

The demon desired it, needed it, but Spike checked himself. He Stomped down the demon's impulse to throw her on the bed and ravage her, make her see stars from the satisfaction he'd bring her. Instead, Spike kept his even pace and allowed himself the euphoria that watching her eyes roll up in pleasure brought him.

When she caught the smirk of pure achievement that sat on his face, Buffy almost melted further, the absolute arrogance in his expression made her want to both show him as good as he got, and kneel at his feet.

So she had a submissive side, she'd always known it. However, that wasn't a big focal point in her sex life, frankly because the few men she had been with liked either equal control, or her on top. She'd never met someone who would yank on her hair while she performed a backwards cowgirl.

But as Spike seized her thighs to wrap them higher and tighter about his waist, finally snarling when his hands grabbed her ass, Buffy realized that this vampire might just be the man she'd never had a chance to meet before; someone very special that she had always wanted.

Spike still moved against her, realizing that anymore of this and he very well might ruin the pair of Levis he wore. He didn't care so much about the zipper, but if seeing his naughty bits was going to get her thinking that he was pushing for sex, and cause her to leave his arms right now, Spike didn't want any part of it. Even if the denim was damn confining.

However, stopping was hardly an option he even wanted to consider as she whimpered and her body tensed with every harsher nudge. He lunged forward to latch onto her neck again, and she moaned involuntarily. Music to his ears, that was, and every other sweet sound she made. Buffy high off lust was like a flawless choir to him.

He ran his tongue up the column of her throat and rested at her ear. "Make that sound for me again, kitten."

She did, louder and even more beautiful than the last, because she'd done it at his command.

Spike was sure his heart might start to beat again when her breaths sped up, and her moans grew shorter. The scent of her was like a drugging perfume, and his mouth watered. They had fabrics between their most intimate places, but with every connection of hard denim to soft lace, heat spread out like wildfire in Buffy's stomach. She felt every nerve ending burn, and just as she was sure that Spike would slow down to torture her, or that he would stop because of fatigue, or Darla would knock on the door, or something would ruin it all and make her cry out of pure frustration, it hit. Like a wave of electricity, excitement made her smile carelessly just as she fell over the edge. She gripped Spike's frame and squeezed his body closer to her, her thighs biting into him as they both writhed against each other. Her moans decorated the air but she couldn't be concerned; the room was spinning.

Her thighs loosened their death grip on his body as her heartbeat turned into the only sound she could hear. Slowly, her arms and fingers and toes regained feeling, and Buffy realized that Spike was still at her neck, now nuzzling and kissing the skin with tenderness. Her lungs shivered on an intake of breath, and she realized she probably felt very heavy to him with her energy drained out of every limb, but Spike didn't seem the least bit ready to put her down.

Buffy found she was okay with that. Calmly, warmly, she brought her arms up and set them on his shoulders, letting her hands run gently through his hair. She smiled when he... Wait. *Was that a purr?*

She grinned, shocked, when he did it again; then almost laughed when he licked the somewhat sore spot on her throat. "So, vamps really do have a neck fetish, I see."

He kissed her sweetly again at the same place he'd refused to neglect, before finally raising his head to meet her eyes. He looked worried, which scared her a little, until he said, "I bit you... Not with fang, of course, but I did it hard...There's a mark."

Buffy went to raise her hand to her neck, but stopped herself as she realized their position wouldn't comfortably allow it. Instead, she simply shrugged, and said, "Well, it'll fade. No big."

The light that filled his gaze, that look of relief, got her heart warming to him even more than it already had. Buffy noticed it now, how deep her feelings had begun to root. It looked like there wasn't any stopping them.

"You're amazing," he murmured around a sudden smirk, leaning forward again to place a chaste kiss at the corner of her mouth. "And appreciative. I love hearing you, moaning and whimpering," his hands slid forward, moving towards her ass so fingers could slip beneath the lace band, "You're a goddess."

She arched against him, emitting a small gasp when their bodies collided again. She felt a familiar beautiful sensation as he rolled his hips, pulling her into the movement. "Spike... Unh. We-We should... Oh."

He chuckled, something sinful and warm. " 'Oh?' I think I just brought a better idea to the table, pet." He thrust temptingly between her sensitive, outspread legs, tongue curling behind his teeth before a dark whisper ghosted by her ear, "I think I want to hear you moaning again, for me."

She fought to keep her eyes open, and locked them with his bright blue ones to try and steady herself. "Spike..." It didn't help. The heat was always there, just waiting for a fire to start. Thing so easily became aflame between them. "Oh God. Y-You... You didn't, um..." No matter how turned on she was, Buffy didn't think she could say the actual sentence to him yet.

Spike smirked again. "Get my rocks off? No, love, not just; but that isn't because I couldn't, believe me."

His unexpected admission flattered her, and Buffy felt a little braver. "But I want you to... I mean, I don't want to get a present and not give anything in return." All in all, she was happy with that metaphor.

Spike understood, too. He smiled warmly and said, "Glad we're on the same page. So why not," he rocked his hips, "let me have a little more fun watching you come undone in my arms, and then we'll worry about me, yeah?"

Buffy didn't know how to say no to such a request, and was about to lean in to kiss him, when a loud knocking sounded behind her head.

"Buffy, Dawn wanted to talk to you again before she hangs up. Is that okay?"

The moment froze, then splintered.

Buffy wanted oh so badly to tell Darla she could call Dawn back, but Spike had gently set her down before she decided whether to articulate the words or not. Surprise danced in her belly as she comprehended the state she and her vampire could have been caught in, followed by mild amusement, and then reality with its ugliness.

Spike seemed to realize even before she did that the mention of her sister would get Buffy thinking quickly about how, where, and when she would tell Dawn about the new man in her life. The one who was to be permanently in her life, after showing up only so recently. Add that to the disappointment in Buffy's chest as Spike let go of her, and all her nerves wigging over Darla standing just outside the door while they were both half naked in a bedroom probably smelling at least a little like sex, and Buffy was throwing a short nightgown over her head before even realizing she'd reached for it.

She paused at Spike's side. He leaned down for a kiss which she happily gave him. It wasn't chaste, but it wasn't desperate; it was warm and loving. It made him smile when she turned away.

Darla stood there, phone in hand, as Buffy peaked around the door. "Thanks," she said.

The she-vamp frowned softly, but Buffy didn't see it, and the frown became a bright look of surprise as Buffy gently kneed the door open wider to reveal Spike, slipping into his T-shirt.

She told Dawn to hang on for minute before bringing the phone down to her hip. "I'm going to take this downstairs." Buffy caught Spike's eyes and smiled gently before turning to Darla, who stood now with arms crossed, teasing accusation on her pretty face. Buffy just held up her pointer finger. "Don't."

The vampire shook her head with a grin. "I'll wait until Dawn is finished first," she said kindly, with enough friendly menace to make Buffy groan as she walked away.

Spike muttered something about needing to take a shower, and Darla's answering, "I'm sure you do" was what Buffy heard last before finally walking out onto the privacy of her front porch.

She sighed and ran a hand through her wet, tangled hair, bringing the phone up to her ear. "Hey Dawn."

"Hi Buffy, sorry to bother you again, but I just remembered something that Xander wanted me to run by you."

"You're not bothering me," Buffy reassured, though the slight ache still in her center contradicted that response. "What's up?"

"Well," her sister began, barely discernible excitement filtering through Dawn's steady voice, but still there nonetheless, "there's a new restaurant in town. Remember, I told you about it?"

"Uh huh," Buffy drew out, listening with a heedful ear.

"Well, Xander and I really liked it. The food is great, and the atmosphere is cool, not too stuffy or family focused, ya know?"

"Sure," she said agreeably.

"I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go with us this weekend?"

"You were wondering? I thought this had to do with Xander."

"Oh, we both want you to come with us."

"Uh huh." Buffy wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder.

"Xander just wants to set you up."

"Wha-?!" Buffy nearly dropped the device and had to hastily grab it with both hands as she moved farther away from her front door. "You want to what?"

"Not me, Buffy. Xander. He has a close friend that he works with and really thinks you guys would hit it off. It's only dinner, and I promise it would be casual."

"No, Dawn."

"Buffy, c'mon. I know it's a blind date, but I've met the man and he's definitely cute, totally you're type, too."

Ordinarily, Buffy would not respond to this idea with outright refusal, and she knew Dawn knew that. A blind date sounded stressful and awkward, but it wasn't something she was known to be hugely against, either. There were tons of reasons why blind dates sucked, but the only one that Buffy needed was the hot British vampire who occupied her every other thought nowadays.

And it wasn't because he would object. "Dawn, no. I don't do blind dates."

"You don't do dates," her sister griped.

Buffy rolled her eyes. No, she didn't date very often, that was true enough. However, what Spike and her had going on right now could definitely be labeled as... something. It was more serious than dating, and not so plain either. "Dawn," she said patiently, "I'm not going on a blind date with Xander's coworker. I'd be happy to go to dinner with you two, but no date. Okay?"

"Fine," Dawn sighed, resigned to the decision, accepting that Buffy really didn't want to go. She still asked, "Why, though?"

A question Buffy wasn't sure how to answer; her brow wrinkled. "Uh, because... blind dates aren't my thing. I like meeting the person myself before I commit to a date with them."

Dawn didn't answer right away, which made her nervously hold her breath, hoping that the younger woman believed the fib that was still sort of truthful. Then, Dawn finally said, "Okay. I understand. I just... I just wish you would find a guy who really gets you, ya know?"

Buffy frowned again. "Um... yeah. Me too."

"You're just... You're my sister. You work all the time, and I know you love your job, but I feel like... Ugh, what I'm saying is guys are idiots, and I know you know that. But I just really want you to find one who's a non-idiot that will make you happy. That's why I was all pushy-sibling a minute ago."

Buffy's smile was warm and flattered as she looked down at her fingertips, blushing even though Dawn couldn't see her. "You weren't pushy. It was... It was just an idea. A nice idea."

"Yeah, well, it's not so bad you turned it down." Dawn spoke as if she might have shrugged. "Xander will be a little mope-y, but his friend will just have to get over it."

"I'm sure he will."

"Alright, well, I'll let you go now. I expect to come over soon to catch Darla before she flies out of the country again."

"Sounds good."

"Maybe the three of us can go to that restaurant, huh?"

"Again with the sounding good." She smiled once more. "I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, bye."

Buffy hung up the phone, biting her lips while she leaned against a support. There was something sweet in the wind, wrapping around her bare ankles and calves. A summery breeze whispered, chilling her throat where hickeys rested and stray water droplets fell from her hair. The days were passing quickly, getting hotter every morning and pleasantly warm by nightfall.

Her fingers trailed upwards to her neck, smoothing along her own skin and conjuring an easy shiver. She looked up at the yellow moon, something in her chest urging her to go back inside and find Spike. She felt at home beneath the darkness of night, as much as she did in the sunshine at the beach. She was a California girl, with a love for the sun and summertime, but another part of her had always found peace in the night. Buffy figured that if she had to live without one, she would miss either terribly.

Spike could never walk in the daylight with her, but he would never try to make her choose between him and the sunlight, or keep her hidden away unless it was what she wanted; somehow Buffy knew that.

A little smile was playing on her lips when she went back in. Darla caught her almost immediately, giving her that universal look all best girlfriends could understand when a new man had entered the picture. Or a vampire, whichever.

"So..." she said, "Spike and you going to be sharing that bedroom with fogged up windows anytime soon, or are you going to deny yourselves satisfaction a while longer?"

Buffy looked down, her cheeks pink. "Windows were nowhere near foggy," she muttered, and left the room.

The kitchen seemed to be Buffy's favorite place lately, Darla noted, when she followed her with arms crossed at the waist. "So Spike isn't as talented as you'd hoped?"

"Th-That's not- He's plenty... talented. But I mean, we're just not... ready yet."

"You mean you aren't ready yet."

Buffy sighed, throwing her arms up in annoyance. "Can you blame me, Darla? When Spike and I finally sleep together, it's going to be done. The whole claim thing? It'll be complete the moment we fall into bed together."

"I know," she replied. "You might as well seal that deal and start learning how to live with each other. Putting it off won't-"

"Since when did you get on the 'Rush Into It' bandwagon?" Buffy argued.

Darla shook her head. "When it comes to the supernatural and things like a mating bond, Buffy, there's no set timetable. You're the mate of a vampire." She sounded very official and wise all of a sudden, which made Buffy tense. "You've accepted that. Obviously, for some reason, you like Spike. There's chemistry there even I can see. You have taken every step you should've before fully going through with it. Now, you're just trying to do what you think is right rather than listening to your instincts."

Buffy's jaw clenched, and she went and got herself a bottle of water from the fridge. After nearly slamming the door closed, leaving the drink on the island countertop, she said, "I'm trying to be smart about this, okay? It's not as simple as you say it is."

"Over-thinking has always been your forte, hasn't it?"

Buffy glared at her friend. Fears were the big problem lately, and she knew that, and had a sneaking suspicion Darla had figured it out, too. "It's com-"

"If you say 'It's complicated' I will have to strangle you."

"Ugh!" Buffy groaned and stomped her foot, feeling lectured and embarrassed. "But it is! It's- It's- I don't want to... get into this and then get hurt, okay? I can't do that. I don't know how vampires feel, or how they care about someone. You can have a mate, but that doesn't guarantee love."

Darla's eyes softened suddenly, and she approached the nervous woman staring at the chilled water bottle. The vampire picked up said bottle and brought it up to Buffy's forehead, letting her friend take hold of it to keep the cooling instrument against her skin. Darla said, "There are never any guarantees, even with humans. But Spike- and myself, I've come to realize -are rather atypical."

Buffy sighed. "I know. You're both..."

"Neither of us really have a true conscious, but we can care about things, and people. Not easily, but we have it."

Buffy licked her lips, a soft frown marring her pretty, pale face. "You're soulless, but not heartless."

Darla started, flinching back. Buffy raised her head to see that Darla was staring intensely at her. She looked amazed, and that was a difficult reaction to put on the woman's face, always had been. "That's a good way to put it, I think." Her voice was strangled.

Buffy put the water bottle down again. "I just... I don't want to be caught in a web I can't get out of. Do you... Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Darla nodded, and Buffy waited expectantly for her to speak. The vampire's expression softened. "I do. But I don't think Spike is going to let you get tangled in any web."

Buffy shook her head, staring curiously at her friend. "When did you start endorsing Spike?"

Darla scoffed and gave her a look. She then brought her hand down from where it rested on Buffy's shoulder and shrugged. "I just think he could've gotten into your pants pretty easily upstairs- and very quickly -but he didn't."

"I might've said 'no' FYI."

"Not if he'd taken advantage of the connection, that little thing that says you two are supposed to be having sex, and gotten his jeans off. But my point is he didn't, and that takes both control and respect for you."

Buffy sighed again, placing her face in her hands and muttering. "I know, I know; I know you're right." Darla had always been good at getting her points across, and even better at drilling annoying things like reality and positivity into Buffy's cluttered head.

"How did you know that we hadn't done it?" Buffy abruptly questioned.

Darla snorted indelicately. "Because you left the room. As soon as you two start, there won't be much that'll tear you apart for a while. Believe me when I say vampires are insatiable; and a vampire with their mate? Forget it."

Buffy was silent but an amused smile came up to her lips. Darla shrugged again, and added, "Besides, he said he needed to take a shower. I can only guess what he was planning on doing in there."

Buffy's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as blood rushed to her cheeks.

"You really are going to drive him to insanity and back, but I presume you know that?"

Buffy glared at her friend, shoving Darla back as the she-vamp released a happy chuckle. "I'm not going to drive my mate insane."

"You know, I kind of wish you would. It'd be amusing, that's for sure." Darla smiled.

"What'd be amusing?"

Both women's attention shot to the doorway, finding a shirtless Spike towel drying his bleached hair. He had on a pair of sweats that he'd bought, along with a few other necessities, to keep here while he stayed under Buffy's roof. He'd also brought with him clothes such as his favorite pairs of Levi's and several T-shirts, even a couple sweaters, at Buffy's suggestion he move some stuff in.

Though she had been very careful to avoid the actual words "move in" Spike figured he was only a hop and a skip away from doing just that. But he wouldn't push her, and it was Buffy's call.

However, he was not against moving nearer to her house if she took too long.

The way she was looking at him right then, slack jawed and eyes riveted, Spike couldn't help but smile. Oh, she was close to allowing him entrance into not just her life, but every part of her; he could taste it.

Darla huffed out a loud breath. "You really have challenged yourself, Buffy. I'll say that."

The she-vamp received a glare for the comment. "How about you just don't say anything?" Buffy suggested sweetly.

Darla laughed freely, and went to leave the room. "I'll let you two be alone." She passed Spike, pausing only long enough to whisper over his shoulder, as Buffy turned around to put the water bottle away that she hadn't opened.

His eyes on his mate, he still clearly heard Darla's threat: "Hurt her, and I'll find a way to make this eternity miserable for you."

She walked away, and while her words were rather tame compared to many of the things he'd said as well as been told in his past, the chill of her voice and the simple honesty there made Spike gather up some respect for the blonde twit. Anyone who cared about Buffy like that earned at least a little in his books.

Spike's gaze never left Buffy's back, and when she turned around again, he had one thing cross his mind like a lighting flash across the sky.

*If we had met under different circumstances, as enemies, or just vamp and victim, I still couldn't do it; I could never hurt her. Even if I'd been created to."

___________________
END NOTES: Thanks for the reviews! They do help fuel my inspiration and I really appreciate them, and thanks to all who read this story! Please let me know if chapter number 10 was enjoyed. (:
And Happy Halloween everyone! *big hugs*
Also, in case the Spuffy Realm ever goes offline (Praying that is doesn't because I love this website very much) I'm just going to point out that should it happen before this story is finished, I will either continue posting this fic on Elysian Fields or a writing website called Booksie. Currently I have nothing up on Elysian Fields and only some of another fic (BFMD) on Booksie, but they are what I'll use if the Spuffy Realm retires. Which again, I hope does not happen. I really appreciate all that the people who run this website do and thank them so much for their hard work in keeping TSR up and running! (:





You must login (register) to review.