Hi all, I know it’s been a while, but I have a very good excuse… No, really! I sometimes work on my story during lunch break at work on those ancient computers they’re giving us and the other day, bam! Power cut in the whole building. And yes, you guessed it: my whole chapter was gone too! Ten pages… disapeared. Stupid machine didn’t even do an automatic save… Had to start the whole damn thing again. So I made it extra-long to make up for the wait. This is officially the longest thing I’ve ever written. Hope you like…
 
Chapter Eleven – To Be A Lover
 
 “Have I told you lately that I love you
If I din’t, darlin’, you see I’m so sorry
Didn’t I reach out and hold you in these lovin’ arms
Well, if I din’t, oh baby, well I’m so sorry
[…] Got to be a lover, babe, forgot to be a lover
Well did I ask you would you come and share
Oh, the burden and the task that’s at love’s command
Didn’t I say all those lovin’ special things
That you long to hear to show you how much I care”
Billy Idol, To Be A Lover
 
 
“No!!”
 
“Please!”
 
“No way in hell!”
 
“Willy said he likes brunettes! You’re the only female one we’ve got!”
 
“Ha, but I’m not a real one, am I? Only borrowing the hide!”
 
“You wanted to find out more about Caleb, right? Remember, evil priest who killed your Sire?”
 
“Well yeah, but even I have my limits!”
 
“Please, Spike? For me?”
 
Spike scowled at the petite girl, then grunted and let out a deep sigh. “Low blow, Slayer, low blow…” He then went into the club.
 
Transgender vampire walks into a strip joint about a priest… That ought to be a good one…
 
He scanned the area and found his ‘victim’ sitting at the bar. He went to stand up next to him. The man known as Rico was really ugly: face scarred by childhood chicken pox, reddish beard and fuzzy hair, tiny rat eyes… He gave him a glance and went back to his drink.
 
The customers at Willy’s, while unable to provide any information about Caleb, had been able to tell him who might have more. While Willy was a human who kept his ears open to the underworld’s news, Rico was the guy you went to if you were a baddie in need of a hideout. Caleb had to be staying somewhere, didn’t he? Even evil priests need to sleep sometimes…
 
And so, since they were tired of waiting around, Buffy, Willow and Spike had gone villain-fishing…
 
Spike had no idea how to do this from a female angle, but he knew what he liked and hoped any other bloke would. So he leaned back against the bar, opening his duster and pushing his upper torso forward…
 
To anyone who wasn’t aware of the situation, it just looked as if Gayle had dressed up as Spike: dressed in tight black clothing and his trademark duster, which hung off her shoulders awkwardly as she was leaner there. And right now, it also looked as if she was trying to pick up some stranger in a bar… and said stranger now was paying attention…
 
“Hi…” Spike ventured. “Looking for some company?” Urgh, kill me, kill me now…
 
“Could be… Australian, are you?”
 
What? Aussie, me? Why you ginger fart, I’ll – “Righ’, whatever… D’you wanna get outta here?”
 
“Let’s go.” Rico then got up and started walking towards the exit.
 
Huh… that was easy…Either that or I’m really good…  Spike followed him out, strangely feeling a bout of ego-boost.
 
Once outside, Rico leered at ‘her’ from head to toe. “So, how much do you charge?”
 
Spike’s lips opened to let an outraged  ‘Wot?!?’ , but Buffy interrupted: “She’s waaaaay too expensive, buddy! Not to mention off-limits!”
 
Before Rico could ask anything, the Slayer’s hand was around his throat and he was pinned against a wall.
 
“But,” she continued, “since you want to put a price on everything, how about we appraise your life?”
 
“Who the fuck are you?”
 
“Name ‘vampire Slayer’ ring any bells?”
 
“Oh, shit…”
 
“Got that right, Rico! Now… I need to know about a priest.”
 
Willow came next to Spike. “You okay?”
 
“Never felt dirtier in my whole unlife, and that’s sayin’ somenthin’…”
 
“Don’t know what you’re talking about…” grunted Rico, who was starting to feel some pain out of Buffy’s treatment.
 
“Really?” she asked, smirking. “Then you’re off your game, aren’t you? From what I hear, whenever a supernatural menace arrives on the Hellmouth, you’re one of the first to know about it! Why? Because said menace always needs a place to stay and a good address book, and you’re the one to provide both! You’re, like, the official realtor for Sunnydale’s demonic scene!”
 
“Demons say a lot of things…”
 
“Yeah, so do I! And right now, I say you’re gonna tell me everything you know about Caleb!”
 
“Who?”
 
Buffy squeezed harder.
 
“AArgh! Alright, alright! I’ll tell you, just let me breathe, I’m still human, you know!”
 
The Slayer glared at him.
 
“I am! Really, check if you don’t believe me: heartbeat and everything!”
 
She released her hold. Rico gulped a few breaths in. “Okay, said something about a priest? Met one about a few days back, but he didn’t say his name…”
 
“And you didn’t ask? Not even why he was here?”
 
“Not my business. Weird stranger comes to me and asks for digs, I do what I’m told and keep my mouth shut.”
 
“And get paid handsomely, right?”
 
“Well, yeah… a dude’s gotta eat…”
 
“So where are Caleb’s ‘digs’? And don’t start with the whole ‘I’m-a-dead-man-if-I-tell-you’ BS, or I’ll…”
 
“I found him a little estate just outside of town.”
 
“… okay, that was easier than expected. Can you give us the address?”
 
“I could, but you won’t find him there. He didn’t like the place. So I found him a mansion closer to town, didn’t like it either! I got all my best properties out for the guy, but none of them was good enough!”
 
“What did he want? Graceland?”
 
“No idea. Kept saying the places weren’t ‘suitable’. Like it wasn’t just for him or something.”
 
“And now?”
 
“Your guess is as good as mine. Eventually, I didn’t have anything left, so he just disappeared. And if you don’t mind, could I do that too? Like, right now?”
 
Buffy looked at the weasel-like man. “If you lied to us…”
 
“I know, I know: I’ll die slowly and painfully. Right?”
 
“… Right. Now get out of my sight.”
 
Rico started to do just that, but then went back to stand next to Spike. “So… any chance you and I…”
 
“PISS OFF!!” the vampire snarled, and Rico disappeared into the night.
 
Willow spoke first. “Well that wasn’t much help!”
 
“Kinda was…” said Buffy softly. “We now know that Caleb is not alone.”

 
__…-==-…__
 

“Thanks, Sally! You have no idea how much this helps!”
 
“That’s alright, Anya, but we’re even now, right?”
 
“Mmm? Oh, sure! Send my love to Anton for me, will you?”
 
“Sure will! See ya!”
 
Anya waved the Dryad goodbye and closed the door of the Summer’s home. Xander was right next to her in a second. “What did she mean by ‘we’re even now’?”
 
“Oh, that! I kind of help her get rid of a clingy woodsman back in the 1700s. Not exactly a vengeance thing, I did it off the clock… You really don’t want to know the details, honey.”
 
She then left to bring the missing element to the witches. As he turned to join her, he found himself facing Buffy, who was smirking knowingly at him. “’Honey’?”
 
“Well, yeah… we… I mean she… us… you know…”
 
“Mmm-hmm.”
 
“We’re taking things slow.”
 
“Of course.”
 
“No need to rush.”
 
“None.”
 
“Shall we?”
 
“Let’s.”
 
They linked arms and joined the rest of the gang in the dining room. Willow and Tara were assembling everything on the dining table, with an occasional little grunt from Willow (So much for Tara getting some rest…). Everything was now ready for the spell, the only thing missing being one of the protagonists.
 
Giles was still in the lounge with the stone slab, taking notes on a writing pad for his later translation. Spike was outside on the front porch, smoking at last, and keeping an eye out for Gayle, who had been out for a while now...
 
Hope the stupid bint gets back here before sunrise… Don’t fancy myself getting stuck in this body forever…
 
Tara peeked out. “Anything?”
 
“Nah, pet, still nothing.”
 
“Do you wanna come back in? It’s getting chilly out there and I’ve got a nice cup of cocoa with your name on it…”
 
Spike sauntered through the threshold after the witch. “Red’s a lucky girl to have you, you know that right?”
 
Willow heard and raised loving eyes to meet Tara’s. “The luckiest.”
 
She wrapped an arm around her girlfriend’s shoulders and led her to the kitchen.
 
Spike, for all his supernaturalness, was still a man, and couldn’t help thinking about the two witches together. They should were a nice couple… Red was a bit of alright, and Glinda… Well let’s just say, any other time, he would not have refused if they asked him to join in…
 
He watched them joining Buffy and Anya at the kitchen counter, and grunted in frustration. For the first time since the swap, he was kinda glad to be a woman, for right now he could be very embarrassed…
 
Three blondes and a redhead… slow night at the Playboy Mansion…
 
Slowly, Spike started pulling at the collar of his t-shirt and peering inside…
 
Buffy noticed first and cried out: “Spike!”
 
The shirt snapped back into place. “Wot? I wasn’t looking!”
 
A few glances in his direction told him nobody was buying that…
 
“Well, what do you expect? I’m a bloke! Well, alright, not right now, but I’m evil still!”
 
“Well, I still don’t think Gayle would appreciate you ogling her boobs like that…”
 
“Would you rather I ogled yours?”
 
“You’re a pig, Spike.”
 
“Don’t you know it… and you’re hardly the one to judge what she would or wouldn’t like!”
 
“I think I have a better idea than you!”
 
“You didn’t even know she smoked!”
 
Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t. Spike was right. She looked at the other girls present: they looked just as embarrassed as she was…
 
Spike saw that and kept going, gesturing at the whole group: “And you lot aren’t better! You all call Chirpy your friend? What do you really know about the chit?”
 
“Well… she’s an heiress, she worked as a nurse in Philadelphia…”
 
“I mean the real stuff! The stuff that matters! For example, did you know she has two brothers she never sees and a third one who’s dead? That her own Dad rejected her and kicked her out? That she was close to engaged when she became a Slayer and the bastard dumped her there and then because of that?”
 
I once loved someone… so much… Buffy inhaled sharply remembering Gayle’s words from earlier.
 
“... Well?”
 
The wide-eyed look on everyone’s face confirmed his theory. He smirked evilly.
 
“Just as I thought. You’re such a bunch of hypocrites… S’pecially you, Summers!”
 
Buffy was startled. “Me? What have I…”
 
“The chit is your sister slayer, you should be closer to her than anyone else! The girl moves in, gets you out of the financial pit you were in, even saves your life, and all this time you didn’t even ask her one bloody question? What, did you think it was normal for a loaded bint to work a badly paid job? That she could just move to the other side of the soddin’ country so easily? Did you never find it even a little bit strange that she never received any mail or even one single phone call?”
 
Buffy, Dawn and Willow exchanged embarrassed glances. They were the ones who spent the most time with Gayle, and no, they had never thought of asking…
 
“Thought so”, continued Spike. “Sod this, I need another fag…”
 
And just as he left through the back door, the front one opened to let Gayle in.
 
Buffy jumped to the occasion. “Hey Mama! How’s it going?”
 
Gayle raised an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”
 
Buffy took a few steps towards her, smiling. “Because we love you and we care about you!”
 
“Really? Is that why you stole my body?”
 
The blonde slayer cleared her throat. “Erm… so… how was patrol?”
 
“Well I thought for a moment that I had met a hot guy, but hey, maybe the whole ‘I’m-me-but-not-me’ scared him off, is that unusual?” she said with venom in her tone.
 

__…-==-…__
 

Buffy walked out of the back door to look for Spike and found him sitting on the steps.
 
“Spike? We’re about ready to start, what are you doing out here?” she asked, sitting down beside him.
 
“Mmm? Nothin’. Just thinkin’, pet.”
 
“That must hurt. What about?”
 
He scowled. “‘Bout Angel.”
 
She stared at him. “Ooookay… I’ve just stepped into Weird Ville, population you. Why are you thinking about Angel? You do remember you hate him, right?”
 
He chuckled at that. “Yeah, yeah, Peaches’ an arse, that’s for sure. I was more thinking about something he said. About you needing someone… who could take you into the sunlight. Someone normal.”
 
“Okay, if you’re about to turn into Angel, I swear I’m going to hurl.”
 
Spike scoffed. “Not bloody likely! I’m done with the whole out-of-body experience. It’s just… In a way I kinda think he’s right, and by the way I’ll deny I said this till I’m dust, alright?”
 
“Duly noted!” she said with a slight chuckle.
 
“You do deserve a normal life: a family, the whole white picket-fences deal… You deserve better than me.”
 
“Spike…”
 
“And yet, I just can’t let you go. Yes, it might be because I’m evil. But I do believe that you deserve more than normality. Normal life just will never be good enough for you. You deserve a bloody throne, Slayer, and I’ll fight forever by your side until you get it. Maybe even after that. The question is… would you let me?”
 
Buffy tried to find the words to answer him. There was a lump in her throat that just wouldn’t budge, so she tried to convey her response through her eyes.
 
Spike understood her silence. Maybe he was asking too much. But that was alright: at least she would allow him by her side and not use him anymore. He wrapped his arms around her neck and reached down for a kiss…
 
“Erm, could we not?” Buffy interrupted. “I mean, you’re still in Gayle’s body, and kissing would just be too weird…”
 
Spike zoned out for a second. Buffy swatted his head lightly.
 
“Spike!”
 
“Wha’?”
 
“Stop picturing it!”
 
“I wasn’t!” The look on her face told he shouldn’t bother, so he just shrugged. As they got up and made their way back into the house, he ventured: “So any chance of you and Chirpy…”
 
“No!”
 
“Right. Sorry, pet, can’t blame an evil bloke for tryin’…”

 
__…-==-…__
 

 “Wandering spirit who lost its face
Now can take back your rightful place
Follow the trail to your own body
As is my will, so mote it be!”
 
 
A flash of green light passed between vampire and slayer as the herbs burned and Willow finished her incantation. Then the brunette opened her eyes, looked down at her own body… then turned her back on the group and went upstairs.
 
Willow, puzzled, turned to Spike’s body: “Spike?”
 
“Yeah, Red, I’m in there.”
 
She sighed in relief and turned to Tara: “Did I get it right?”
 
“Yes, Spike’s aura is back to a clear red, and Gayle’s is gold with patches of silver and lavender again, same as Buffy’s. You did everything right, babe.”
 
Buffy touched Spike’s shoulder. “You okay? You look kinda away…”
 
“I was just thinking I need to get back to the crypt, pet. Sun’s gonna be up soon…”
 
“Oh…”
 
She was about to offer him to stay, but she was interrupted by the noise of loud footsteps coming down the stairs. Gayle appeared with a large and heavy-looking designer carry-on. She grabbed her jacket from the coat rack and turned to Spike: “Spike, can you drop me off at the hotel, please?”
 
Everyone apart from the vampire gasped at her request. Spike did not look surprised.
 
Buffy stepped in front of her sister slayer: “Gayle, you can’t leave!”
 
“Try and stop me.”
 
“But why? I thought that…”
 
“I’m still mad at you, Buffy! The only reason I patched things up between you and Spike was because I didn’t want you both to have yet another argument on yet another misunderstanding. But like I told you: it’s getting real old!”
 
“Look, I know how you feel: I know what it’s like to feel betrayed by the one person you thought never would…”
 
“You dare to compare…? Spike tried to rape you, Buffy. You went all the way.”
 
Buffy inhaled sharply, shocked to her core. “How… oh my god, how can you say that?”
 
“Well, let’s see: you took my body to do as you please, to use as you please, got some relief out of it without ever, even for a second, ask me for my opinion or my permission. What does that sound like to you?”
 
With that, she opened the door and left, not even bothering to close it behind her. Spike sent Buffy a sad look, then went to open the door of the DeSotto for Gayle who got into the car without looking back. The vampire closed the door, went to the other side of the car and positioned himself behind the wheel. The motor purred to life and the couple drove off.
 
Buffy watched her sister slayer disappear into the night with her vampire through teary eyes…
 

__…-==-…__

 
Spike was getting ready to leave the following dusk, when Buffy came running through the crypt door. She was wearing suede pants and a close-fitting cream blouse. Clearly, she had come straight from work. Her face was flushed and her voice was shrill.
 
“Spike, Gayle hasn’t come back home yet; she hasn’t even called!”
 
Spike understood her worry, but he also understood that Gayle needed some space right now. “And you’re here because…?”
 
“I thought maybe you had an idea of where she could be?”
 
“Not in my bed, if that’s what you’re really wondering.”
 
Buffy sighed. “Spike, please. I did not come here looking for a fight. I’m really worried about her!”
 
Spike shrugged, obviously understanding why Gayle needed the distance.
 
Buffy continued: “And I was worried about you too.”
 
He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Why is that, d’you reckon?”
 
“I apologized about getting you in Gayle’s body – you know, even now it sounds so damn wrong – but I never said how sorry I was for deceiving you. You know, when I was… when we danced.”
 
His jaw clenched at the memory. “We did nothing of the sort, Buffy. I danced with Gayle.”
 
“… I guess I deserved that. Anyway, here it is: I’m sorry.”
 
Spike looked at her. She seemed sincere. “Dropped Chirpy off last night at a B&B in town. Haven’t heard from her since, but she was in one piece last I saw.”
 
She breathed out her relief. “I take it she’s still mad at me?”
 
“Oh yeah. Kept her jaws locked the whole drive there, barely even said goodbye. Tried to get her to talk to me, but she just clammed up.”
 
“You obviously know her better than any of us, and I know I’m to blame for that too, but… d’you think she’s coming back? Ever?”
 
“I’d like to be able to answer that, love, I really would. But the way she looked… I jus’ dunno.”
 
Buffy clasped her hands to her hair. She’d really screwed up big time. She had thrown a great friendship out the window because she just couldn’t deal with her issues. It was really close to what happened last year… with the man she was facing right now. “Spike… what do you know of Gayle’s history?”
 
“Pretty much everything I told you last night, pet.”
 
“If her Dad kicked her out, where does her money come from?”
 
“From what I gather, from the biz she had with her bruv.”
 
“The one who’s dead?”
 
Spike took a deep unneeded breath. “Look, why don’t I start at the beginning? A few weeks ago, she and I were at a bar, getting pleasantly pissed, and she asked how I got into punk music…”
 
 “It’s all about: screw the establishment, and let’s have some bloody fun around here!”
 
Gayle put her glass down and said tipsily, though merrily: “Oh Gosh, I have a brother who would so totally agree with you! S’like exactly what he says!”
 
Spike raised a brow. “Din’t know you had kin, pet!”
 
She suddenly looked a little sullen, but kept smiling. “Yeah well, we all come from somewhere… don’t we?”
 
“Yeah, we do… So how many do brothers do you have?”
 
“Oh, too many for my taste!” she laughed, then took another sip of her drink. “Haven’t seen any of them in a while, though. We kinda had a fallout…”
 
“Sorry to hear that…”
 
“S’alright. T’was a long time ago. M’okay on my own.”
 
“Why the fallout, if you don’t mind me asking?
 
“Mmm? Oh… well… I’d been a loner for a while, I guess, but… My older brother runs this business of his like an emperor, really, didn’t want to wait for our dad to give him the reigns of his own biz… He’s doing good, though, real good… For a while, my younger brother and I helped him, and so dear old Daddy kicked us out… Didn’t like his kids getting their own way… but… I guess the shit really hit the fan when I… it’s a long boring story really…”
 
“Not going anywhere, luv.”
 
Gayle lost herself in the contemplation of her drink. “I had another brother… Half-brother, this one… Jayce… Real sweet kid… I tried to break him out of prison.”
 
Spike had been expecting a lot of things, but certainly not that.
 
 “She wouldn’t say much more after that. Can’t say I blame her…”
 
Buffy could only stare, mouth agape. Gayle, little miss ‘I-customize-my-own-stakes’, mastermind of a prison break?
 
“Why was her brother in prison?”
 
“She didn’t say, and I didn’t want to press the issue…  But from what I gathered about what she said later, she failed, and he died in there not long after. Wouldn’t say how.”
 
Buffy covered her mouth with her hand. Gayle had lost a brother… She had tried to save him, and he died… God, how horrible is must have been for her…
 
“Why did she open to you like that? Why not with us?”
 
Spike sighed. “For the same reason she kissed me. For the same reason I kissed her back. Because we’re both lonely, Slayer. Girl’s far from everything she knows, has lost some very important people in her life, she’s probably still in love with someone who won’t have her, that bloody fool… She’s trying so hard to find a new place to call home, she just wants to wipe the slate blank and start anew. And she chose your lot as her new home, because now all she’s got left is her Calling. And me? I’m just the one who understands.”
 
She nodded. Gayle’s situation, as exposed by Spike, reminded her of her own when she first got to Sunnydale. Except that she had something to cling on to: her Mom and, though she knew her memories we false, her sister. Gayle had only her money to remind her of where she came from…
 
Why hadn’t she asked more questions? Simple: she had taken Gayle for granted, all too happy to have a new mom and slaying partner rolled into one. Same she had done with Spike: just expected him to stick around and be close to her without her ever return the favor…
 
There it was again: making parallels between Spike and Gayle. She had been doing an awful lot of that lately. What was it with Gayle that reminded her so much of Spike and vice-versa? The history? But she hadn’t known any of it until earlier today…
 
Spike interrupted her thoughts. “I’m sorry if I’ve upset you pet, but like I said: the chit and I? Never happened, never will. Proved it the other night, when you flung yourself at me using her hide…”
 
“What if you had known?”
 
“Whaddya mean?”
 
“If you had known it was me? In her body? Would you have… you know…”
 
“Shagged you through Chirpy’s bits? No, Slayer. She’s one of the rare people I truly consider a friend, and I couldn’t have done that to her… S’not fair.”
 
Buffy pondered that for a second. And he’s the soulless one?  “She was right about one thing: the body swap? It was kinda like a rape…”
 
“Oh, Buffy, she didn’t mean that, she was just angry…”
 
“Maybe, and rightfully so, but she was right nonetheless! That’s how bad I got! How bad the frustration and the obsession got! Remind you of anything?”
 
Spike’s lips tightened. “If you knew it was so bloody wrong, then why d’you do it?”
 
“I had to know!”
 
“Had to know what, for blood’s sake?”
 
“If you still loved me!”
 
Spike couldn’t hold back a gasp. “Why… how… Buffy, I don’t understand…”
 
“After all that happened last year… what I did to you and what you did to me… You getting your chip out so you could be bad again, but then you just still hang around and help… It’s like, this huge trench has been dug between us, you know? I couldn’t figure you out anymore!”
 
“Oh, pet…”
 
“No, let me finish! We are finishing this now! I didn’t plan this whole thing, okay? I didn’t lie awake in my bed thinking what weird plan I could come up with to try and mess with you, alright? I just… So much has happened! Since… since I broke up with you, I’ve been feeling… so hollow, like part of me was missing, but I brushed it off thinking I would just miss the amazing sex and get over it eventually… But then… what happened in my bathroom…”
 
Spike’s face changed into a mask of pain. He suddenly remembered that night… the look of horror on her face beneath him… the screams… He squeezed his eyes shut.
 
Buffy saw his pain, and quickly continued. “It hurt… it hurt so much that you would do this to me… But it hurt even more when I realized I drove you to do it!”
 
His jaw dropped. “No! No, luv, don’t pin this on yourself you have nothing to feel guilty about! I did it, I am responsible, it was my own damn fault!”
 
“I never said it wasn’t. Just that we were both at fault. There is nothing I can do to apologize enough. Nor can you. But… the other night… when I was in Gayle’s body… I realized that… we just can’t be friends, can we? We can never be less than… than… In a way I think I always knew, but I had to make sure… especially after what happened to Drusilla… You told her you loved her…”
 
“She was dying, Buffy! And she was my Sire, the woman I loved and shared my life with for over a hundred fucking years! The least I could do was soften her way to the other side! Jesus bloody Christ, even you would have told me you loved me if I was dying!”
 
“Why should I wait until you’re dying?”
 
Spike thought he misheard her. Could she mean…? No… no, she couldn’t… could she?
 
He slowly turned around to face her. He could see the tears on the brim of her eyes…
 
She made a step towards him. She was struggling to get the words out… Before coming over, she had no idea she would say them this way. But she had to, now. She had to. Or she was going to explode. Messing up this big had been for a reason and she would face it. So she breathed out:
 
“I love you, William!”
 
His unbeating heart jumped in his chest. He shut his eyes tightly. A dream. It had to be a dream. This just couldn’t be real…
 
But the little hand that was now touching shoulder was real. The breath that came inches from his face was warm. She was leaning towards him, closer and closer to his lips…
 
He opened his eyes, and she was still there, a mere inch from his face, her eyes expectant and scared. She reached out and cupped his cheek…
 
Unable to take anymore, Spike crushed his lips to hers.
 
Buffy quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight as his tongue found its way into her mouth. She tried to kiss him back with as much fervor, but soon found herself struggling to breathe. He felt it and let go of her mouth to trace a path of wet kisses down her neck.
 
“Please… tell me I’m not dreaming…” he whispered between kisses.
 
“You’re not, I promise! I’m here, and I love you…”
 
“Can’t believe I’m hearing this! Say it again!”
 
“I love you.”
 
“Again!”
 
She chuckled lightly “I love you, Spike. I just gave up on fighting it… Gave up last night, but there was never a good moment to…”
 
“I love you too, Buffy, so bloody much…Oh baby…”
 
He claimed her mouth once more and pulled her body tightly against his. Buffy felt herself responding automatically to his assault as a familiar moisture hit her panties and she molded her frame to his. “Spike…” she managed to breathe out, “… want you… now…”
 
“As my lady commands” he said in a low growling voice before picking her up in his arms.
 
Next thing she knew, they were on the lower level of the crypt and, thanks to vampire speed combined with her, erm, lack of attention, she had no idea how they got there. Spike chuckled lightly at her amazement before carefully laying her down on top of his bed, where she quickly kicked off her shoes, beaming at him.
 
He kissed her again in one of those bone-melting kisses known only to him and her while, with one hand, he proceeded to open her pants. He left her mouth for a short moment to remove the offending garment that dared hide her shapely legs and threw it to the floor. In almost the same movement, he took off his t-shirt and kneeled down beside her on the bed. His erection was pushing painfully against its denim prison.
 
Buffy took in the sight of this beautiful man at her side… his sculpted body, his handsome face, and the look in his eyes. The blue had almost disappeared, replaced by a lustful black. She was sure she had never seen anything as beautiful as Spike when he was looking at her.
 
He ran a hand reverently over her still-clothed breasts and belly, worshipping her with his eyes as he did so. He then placed a soft kiss just above her knee. She let out a sigh as he slowly kissed his way up her thigh and arched her back.
 
As he reached her soft cotton panties, he inhaled deeply, letting his throat and chest fill with her intoxicating scent. He nuzzled her entrance through the fabric, and, with a devilish gleam in his eyes, even gave her clit that was peeking through the cloth a little nibble. She jumped in surprise and squealed.
 
Hooking his thumbs on the elastic, he pulled down her panties down her legs, and they quickly joined the pants on the floor. Buffy sat up and nearly ripped her blouse off. When Spike saw her lovely tits nestled in the white Lycra bra, he let out a groan before fastening his lips on one, suckling through the fabric and tenderly squeezing the other. She arched her back to push her breasts into his mouth, and, with a moan, tilted her head back.
 
He knew he should take more time with foreplay, but it would have to wait. Right now, he wanted too much to be inside her again. To be a part of her again. Even more so than before, for today she loved him back.
 
He reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. As her nipples were bared, he suckled again on one of them, but Buffy wrung her fingers through his hair and pulled his head back. He looked at her worryingly for a second, but when she pulled him up in a passionate kiss, he stopped worrying right away.
 
Not breaking the kiss, she straddled his legs and attacked his belt. The only moment they uncoupled was when he got up in a flash of vampire speed to remove his jeans. He then kneeled back on the bed and she positioned herself just above his throbbing cock, placing the tip just at her drenched entrance. She paused for a second to gaze into the ocean of his eyes.
 
There, behind the lust, was an adoration for her that ran so deep, it made her tremble.
 
Spike mistook her reaction for fear, and started moving away. Buffy whimpered at the loss.
 
“Love, we don’t have to do this…”
 
“What? Why? Don’t you want me anymore?” Buffy asked in a panic.
 
“Bloody hell, woman! I want you more than anything in the world! But I love you even more than that, and I don’t want you to feel obligated to do anything you’re not ready to…”
 
“Huh? Huzzat?”
 
Spike caressed her face softly. “Buffy… after what happened…”
 
She suddenly understood what had stopped him. Evil soulless vampire feeling guilty over hurting the Slayer… Gosh, I’ve been such a total bitch…
 
“Spike, please don’t think about that part of our lives anymore, it’s over and done with… Could we just turn over a new leaf? Pretend this is our first time?”
 
“We can’t just pretend nothing ever happened, Buffy! That’s not healthy!”
 
“Then help me get past it! Love me, Spike, erase all the bad from us! Please!”
 
That was the last straw. Forgetting all control, Spike latched on her mouth, letting his tongue dance with hers a fiery tango. Buffy kissed him back with all the passion she could feel still swelling in her heart. With no further hesitation she sank on his cock, taking him in to the hilt. She cried out at the delicious invasion that felt just like coming home.
 
Spike thought he would dust, her pussy was so hot. If there was chance for him to ever know Heaven, it would be exactly like this. It felt so good to be back inside of her! Her center was so tight and hot and silken, he did not dare move, he was so afraid the illusion would vanish if he did…
 
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, trying to get him closer than even possible. She reveled in the feel of his soft cool skin against hers, and for a moment she stayed perfectly still. She felt so full and safe.
 
Slowly, Spike started thrusting. Buffy let him set the pace, all too happy to feel him moving inside her. She already felt him rubbing her G-spot. Why did I break things off again?
 
Soon, though, she started to meet him thrust for thrust. She panted and mewled. At her reaction, Spike laid her down on the coverlet, covering her body with his and changing slightly the angle of his hips so that his cock hit her clitoris every time he entered her. At this point she was so wet he glided in and out with ease. In the heat that she was communicating to his body, he could almost feel his heart beating and his blood flowing again…
 
Their mouths fused again, tongues sucking and twisting around each other, reveling in the other’s taste. Spike started thrusting faster and harder as he moved his lips down her jaw and throat. He could smell the blood right underneath the soft skin there, pumping away. His mouth began to water, his demon screaming for the precious liquid, but he refused to bite her. He had just got her back, he wasn’t about to bollix it up by abusing her trust again…
 
If Buffy was aware of his inner turmoil, she showed no sign of it. She was lost in passion, no longer feeling the boundaries of her own body as she started her ascension towards what could only be an earth-shattering climax…
 
Spike felt that she was close and propped himself up on his fists, gyrating his hips as he yet again changed the angle and started pounding into her…
 
Buffy started to wail her pleasure as she rose and rose towards her orgasm, and finally, it hit her like a tidal wave. Her scream of relief sounded like it came from a whole choir as it bounce against the stone walls…
 
Her internal muscles suddenly clamped around Spike’s shaft like a white-hot vise. Unable to resist any longer, her joined her in ecstasy with a roar.
 
When she felt him erupted inside of her through the fog of her own orgasm, she managed somehow to relax her vaginal muscles and then squeezed him again, wanting to draw out both their orgasms as much as possible.
 
When they were finally both spent, he fell on top of her. Both the lovers were breathing heavily. Buffy felt so happy and complete she thought she could cry. She caught Spike’s head in her tiny hands and made him look at her.
 
“You know… this was kinda our first time, after all…” she said softly, beaming at him.
 
Spike frowned for a second before he understood what she meant, then broke into a warm smile. “That it was, my love… that it was.”
 
As the last vestiges of their bliss washed over them, they melted into a kiss that could last until morning for all they cared…
 

__…-==-…__
 

At the exact same time, across town, Gayle was leaning against a wall in an alley, catching her breath. When she felt better, she started laughing. She laughed and laughed, then abruptly stopped.
 
“Well, it’s about fuckin’ time, you two. Hope this works, darlings, I really do…”
 
She stood back up, smoothed her clothes down, and lit up a cigarette. She then proceeded to leave the alley, leaving the foul stench of a decomposing body behind her as she started to sing softly into the darkness:
 
 “Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
Because tonight there are two lovers
If we believe in the night we trust…”
 
 
End of Chapter Eleven.
 
Soundtrack: “Because The Night”, sung by Patti Smith, written by Bruce Springsteen. Check out the live version sung by those two plus U2 on YouTube, a great moment of rock.
 
Maybe I should have warned you, dear readers, that this chapter was gonna get a wee bit – scratch that, REALLY steamy at the end… But then, I can’t help but think many of you would have just skipped down to the hot bits and forsaken the rest. Am I wrong?
 
So… what do you think? Was it worth the wait? Happy that Buffy and Spike finally got it on? What will the infamous ‘morning after’ be like? Am I keeping you interested? Is the suspense thrilling enough? What will happen next? What What What?
 
Let me know… please? Pretty please? Pretty please with a Spike-clone on top?