Chapter Eleven
 
While Buffy was mentally gearing up to resist Spike’s kisses and not permit them to lead to anything related to the rumpled bed they were on, he surprised her by keeping the kiss soft and affectionate... and ending it well before she was ready. He pulled back and smiled at her bewildered expression.
 
“It’s not going to be easy, is it, love?”
 
“What? What’s not going to be easy? If you’re talking about kissing me, seems to me that’s all it’s been is easy. Every time I think I’m going to push you away, I end up kissing back and then there’s more kissing, and tongues, and...”
 
“I meant,” he said, chuckling and nuzzling her cheek, “you and me. It’s not going to be easy for us.”
 
Buffy flashed back to Riley’s disappointment with the way she treated him and her response about what it meant being the Slayer’s boyfriend.
 
“You don’t think you can do it? Cause, just so you know, that would make at least two of you who think it’s too hard to be my boyfriend. And that’s not counting An—anybody else,” she finished, hoping he would ignore her slip.
 
He pulled back in astonishment. “The enormous Boy Scout thinks it’s hard to be your boyfriend? What’s wrong with that git? He doesn’t know how good he has it – what with being all human and soul-having and all... Bloody stupid wanker...” He paused and his eyes lit up.  “Does that mean he’s out of the picture?”
 
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I think he’s pretty mad at me right now. And I don’t think I can be... what he wants me to be.  I’m the Slayer. I can’t stop being that just because....”
 
Spike’s lips cut off her agitated speech, this time holding the kiss until she stopped trying to speak and sighed into his mouth. As soon as she was kissing him back, he pulled her closer and held her while they lost themselves in the way their lips and tongues seemed to know just what to do to make the other person moan and whimper.  They gradually slid from their sitting positions down until they were lying on the bed, bodies pressed tightly together.
 
During a brief pause for heavy breathing, Spike whispered, “Don’t think I didn’t catch that bit about the poof leaving because it was too hard. I’m made of tougher stuff, Slayer. And I don’t have any soul to lose.”
 
“So you don’t think being the Slayer’s boyfriend is going to be too much like work?”
 
“Oh, I don’t doubt for a second it’s going to be a lot of work... for both of us.” He seized her lips again and reminded her of why she was on a bed kissing William the Bloody.  “But it’s going to be worth every terrifying minute... every knock down, drag out fight, every punch in the face....”
 
“Just so you know....” Buffy gasped out between kisses. “...you really aren’t making it sound very fun....”  She squirmed as he slid a hand under her sweater, leaving her shivering as he stroked the soft skin he found there.
 
“Oh, I plan to make it fun, love. Count on it.” His mouth worked its way down her neck, nibbling and licking at the skin there until he found the spot he wanted and sucked it into his mouth. Buffy felt the pull all the way down to her toes. Her slayer senses vigorously insisted she push the vampire away from her throat, but the hormones racing through her body made her arch her neck to give him more access.
 
“Ummmm, ummmm....” Buffy’s incoherent murmurs were almost loud enough to muffle the sound of footsteps overhead. Almost.
 
Spike tore his mouth away and rolled to his feet on one side of the bed while Buffy duplicated his motions on the other side, grabbing her hammer as she got to her feet.  They listened intently as heavy footsteps crossed the rug-covered plywood hiding them.
 
“Soldiers,” Spike whispered.  Buffy nodded and pointed to the flickering candle. Spike spit on his fingers and pinched it out, dropping the room into complete darkness. There was a quick flurry of movement as Spike grabbed his boots, then she felt him approach. Taking her hand, he whispered, “Come with me into the tunnels. We don’t want to be caught down here.”
 
She stumbled after Spike, hanging on to his hand and wondering how even a vampire could see in what seemed to her to be complete darkness.  He stopped sooner than she expected, turning them to face back the way they’d come. While they waited, he quickly stepped into his boots, cocking his head to listen to the sounds from the area they’d just left.
 
“No sense running off if they don’t find the—Fuck!”
 
Even Buffy could hear the sound of the cover being pulled away. The beam of a flashlight made her blink and shrink into Spike’s side. She could feel the growl rumbling in his chest, but he remained silent as voices carried to them.
 
“Nobody down here, Rile. But somebody lives here – there’s a bed – looks slept in.”
 
“I thought vamps sleep in coffins,” someone said with a laugh. “This one likes four-posters and fluffy quilts.”
 
There was some laughter and comments about Spike’s sexual orientation that ended when Riley snapped, “Hostile Seventeen is an old vampire, and I’m pretty sure he’s not gay. Now one of you get down there and see if you can figure out where he went.”
 
After some good-natured bargaining and arguing, the beam of the flashlight was followed by a uniformed man who Buffy didn’t recognize.  He glanced at the bed, then wandered around the room, pulling open a couple of drawers on the dresser and flashing his light around the room. When instead of bouncing off a mud wall, it disappeared into the inky space that was the tunnel entrance, he shouted in surprise.
 
Buffy and Spike shrank back against the wall where the thin beam of light couldn’t find them. It was obvious that the soldier wasn’t interested in going into the tunnels by himself, but he was soon joined by Riley and another armed soldier.
 
“Time to go, love.” Spike, moving very silently for someone wearing heavy boots, tugged Buffy after him as he made his way farther into the gloom. Buffy followed as silently as she could, straining to see what was in front of her, as well as to hear what was going on behind.  They could hear more arguing as Riley demanded a weapon and one of the others pointed out that he wasn’t technically in the Army anymore.
 
“The hell with regs!” he finally shouted, loud enough to be heard easily even by Buffy.  Spike increased his pace as something flew into the tunnel and rolled in their direction.  He pulled Buffy into a crevice just as the grenade that Riley had thrown went off with earsplitting noise and a bright flash.
 
They huddled against the wall, protected from the worst of the blast by the rocky outcrop behind which Spike had pulled her. Dirt and rocks continued to fall with a light pattering sound as the echoes of the blast continued to reverberate around them.  As their ears became at least partially functional again and the tunnel seemed to stabilize itself, they could hear the uproar coming from behind them.
 
“What the hell, Finn?  That could have pulled this whole thing down around our ears! What’s wrong with you? Let’s get out of here before we find ourselves buried in this grave.”
 
“You’re losing it, man,” another voice chimed in as the lights began to disappear up the ladder.  “It’s just a vamp. I don’t know why you’ve got such a—”
 
There was no reply from Riley as the voices faded away.  Buffy and Spike remained where they were, huddled against the wall, his arms still over her head, protecting her from the shower of debris that had fallen even in their protected crevice.  When they’d been waiting for what seemed like forever, Buffy pushed him away and raised her hand to brush off his dirt-covered head.
 
“What do think? Can we go back?”
 
“Can’t hear anybody. ‘Course right now, my ears are still ringing, but I think I’d know if there was anything human left up there.”
 
Moving cautiously, they made their way back into Spike’s bedroom, the vampire using his better eyesight to guide Buffy over and around the debris now covering the floor of the tunnel. “Easy, pet,” he said, holding her up until she got her balance back when she stepped on a rock that rolled under her foot.
 
“I’m going to kill him,” she growled. “I told him to leave you alone, dammit!”
 
“You can’t kill him, you’re a white hat. Let me do it.” While Buffy’s comment had been an obvious overstatement brought on by anger at their recent experience, Spike’s voice was calm and flat as he responded.
 
Buffy’s sigh was her only reply as they stopped and Spike released her hand to relight the candle. They looked around in the flickering light to see that the room itself hadn’t actually been damaged. Riley had thrown or rolled the grenade into the tunnel and the majority of the blast damage was confined to that area.
 
Without speaking, they both went to the ladder leading to the main part of the crypt.
 
“After you, Slayer,” Spike said, standing back. “Never let it be said I don’t know how to be a gentleman.”
 
“You just want to watch me go up the stairs,” she said, going before him anyway.
 
“Well, yeah. There’s that. Puts that delectable arse right within biting distance,” he agreed, laughing and nipping at her denim-covered rear.
 
“Eep! Stop that!” Buffy’s protest was not believable, even to herself, and Spike continued to nip at her ass until they reached the top. “You’re awful,” she said, sitting on the floor and turning to face him, giggling in spite of herself.  He came up far enough to stand between her legs and go back to sucking on her neck. She whimpered and pulled him closer, ending up lying on the stone floor with Spike on top her. 
 
“What is wrong with us?” she gasped. “Shouldn’t we be barricading the door or something?”
 
“Near-death experience, love. Makes the juices flow – even for a dead man.” In spite of his words, he rolled off her body and sat up. “But we’ve got a nice comfy bed down there, so no reason to be getting bruises on this hard floor.” He stood up and held out his hand to her.
 
When they were both on their feet and staring around in the dim light coming in the dirty windows, they could see that the soldiers hadn’t touched much, although the refrigerator was open and the blood in there had been thrown all over the floor.
 
“Yuck. Good thing you brought some downstairs, isn’t it?”
 
“Bloody wankers,” he growled. “Do they think takin’ my stored blood is going to make me less likely to want theirs?  Doesn’t work that way.”
 
“Spike....” Buffy paused, not sure how she wanted to approach the subject of retaliation against the soldiers.
 
“Buffy, he could have killed you!  Don’t ask me to forget or forgive that.” He whirled on her. “The big git never thought to check to see if anyone was down there with me. Could have been Dawn, your mum, anybody... He almost killed you!”  Spike’s eyes were flashing yellow, and his fangs were becoming more visible the longer he went on. 
 
“But I’m all right,” she said, stroking his forehead until it smoothed out. “He wouldn’t have done that if he’d known I was there... “ She frowned. “At least I don’t think he would have.”
 
“Doesn’t matter if he knew it or not. He didn’t know you weren’t there with me. Didn’t even try to find out. He’s a wanker.”
 
“I won’t let him stake you – no matter how jealous he gets.” She looked up at him. “But I’m not going to let you bite him, either. I’m dumping him for you, that’s got to be good enough.”
 
He froze, then turned to stare at her. “Did you just say what I think you said?”
 
“Um...” Buffy’s eyes widened as she realized what she’d said.  “Maybe?  What do you think I sa—mmph!” Spike was holding her off the floor, his mouth firmly fastened on hers, his hands on her butt, holding her against him.  He continued kissing her until she was whimpering in need and trying to wrap her legs around his hips.  With gasp, he tore his mouth away and put her down. He rested his forehead against hers, breathing in time with her gasping breaths.
 
“Don’t go anywhere.”
 
He ran to the still-open doors, muttering about “stupid farm boys... raised in a barn... no respect for private property....” and closed them both, dragging a large stone urn in front of the interior door and leaving it there.
 
“At least we’ll hear them if they come back,” he said, returning to Buffy’s side. “Now where were we.....”
 
Buffy ducked away from his embrace, laughing when he growled.  “Just cool it, vampire. We need to do some work downstairs too.” She looked at him from under her lashes.   “....Before we try to figure out what we’re going to do with the rest of the day...” She disappeared down the ladder, leaving Spike staring after her and shaking his head.