Prologue

Buffy looked at the cell phone number written in beautiful script on the post card in front of her and bit her lip. The card with the phone number had come in the mail over two years ago, just a month after Spike had kept his promise to leave Sunnydale but keep in touch with her. The message on the card was short and cryptic. It just said, “Anytime” and was signed with an ornate “W”. Underneath the initial was a drawing of a heart with what appeared to be a wooden stake through it. The “W” had puzzled Buffy for a minute until she remembered that Spike’s real name was William.

While she hadn’t felt the need to use the phone number on the card to call for help (until now, anyway), she did take it out and look at it occasionally. Usually after a particularly unsatisfactory romantic entanglement.

She dated when she could; even had tried seeing a souled vampire who came to Sunnydale to help her out for awhile, but no one seemed able to hold her interest for long. She found that the men she dated couldn’t handle what she was if they knew. And keeping them in the dark about her slayer responsibilities didn’t work any better, as the strain of constantly lying about what she was doing, not to mention the frequent broken dates if there was a crisis, were hard on a relationship.

And, if she was honest with herself, none of them could compare with her memories of her first lover. She idly wondered if he had really been that much better than the two or three she’d tried since then, or if she had romanticized the experience until it bore no resemblance to reality.

Her latest boyfriend, a really nice guy from the Midwest, had accepted her calling, and in fact, seemed interested in it and so far, not intimidated. Of course, she could tell he didn’t really “get it” and thought she just was just a very athletic girl who knew how to dust vampires. Her friends liked him, but she could tell her watcher distrusted his interest in what they did and his apparent connection to the commandos they were investigating.

Just when she was beginning a relationship with a new boyfriend probably wasn’t the best time to be bringing Spike back to Sunnydale; but she was really not making much progress against Adam by herself and she knew she was going to need major help when she finally took him on again.

She sighed and put the card away for the time being and got up to go to the night’s Scooby meeting.

Riley insisted on accompanying her to the meeting, which put a bit of a crimp in the conversation until he finally said with an exasperated sigh, “Look, I know there’s something going on here. And I know you,” he looked pointedly at Buffy, “think it’s your job to handle it. But there are other options. There are other people working on this. You can just relax and forget it.”

He looked at Buffy again and then around the circle at her friends and Watcher – clearly expecting them to be relieved. He was surprised when Giles just shook his head and took off his glasses to polish them.

Buffy laughed humorlessly, then said, “I’m afraid ‘relax and forget about it’ isn’t included in the Slayer handbook, Riley.”

The big man engaged in a brief glaring contest with her, then said, “Giles, surely you see the sense in it? She doesn’t need to risk her life. We – I mean, they – someone else can handle this thing, whatever it is.”

Buffy rolled her eyes and tried once more to explain about what a Slayer is, what she does, and that she is chosen. “Riley, my participation isn’t optional. Being the Slayer isn’t what I DO; it’s what I AM! “

Riley appealed silently to Giles only to find her Watcher in complete agreement with Buffy.

“She’s right, Riley. Any activities that take place on the hellmouth are Buffy’s responsibility. She’s also,” he added, “probably the most qualified to deal with supernatural forces.”

Riley glared at Giles for a minute. “I thought your job was to keep her from harm’s way? What exactly do you do if not that?”

Giles sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Unfortunately, it is my job to place her in harm’s way – on a nightly basis. With as much assistance as I can offer, of course. But meeting the Big Bads is what Buffy was Chosen to do. It is her destiny.”

“Destiny, apocalypse, supernatural – I’m sick of all this mumbo jumbo. These sub terrestrials are just particularly nasty animals and all it takes to find and subdue them is technology and firepower.” Riley paused for breath. “How can you possibly think you’ll do a better job with swords and pointed sticks?” He threw his hands up in exasperation.

Giles’ usually mild demeanor faded and the Ripper emerged for a second or two. In a calm tone, belied by his posture and the look on his face, Giles asked quietly, “How many ‘sub-terrestrials’ have you and your friends…” at Riley’s start of surprise, everyone laughed. “…killed this week?”

Riley puffed his chest out and said proudly, “We captured one demon and two vampires.” He looked confused and annoyed when everyone except Buffy laughed again. Buffy looked uncomfortable and when Giles asked her, “Buffy, how many vamps did you slay last night?” she look apologetically at Riley before mumbling, “six vamps and a Thedr demon.”

Riley goggled at her for a second, then recovered his swagger. “Well, I’m sure that wasn’t an ordinary…” his voice trailed off as everyone snickered again.

He shrugged and admitted defeat. “Ok, so your methods work too.” He shifted his weight uncomfortably for a minute, then asked, “How did you know….?”

“We’re not stupid, Riley.” Buffy said coldly. “It’s our job to know everything going on at the Hellmouth; including the arrival of mysterious commandos who hang around campus pretending to be frat boys.”

Riley looked embarrassed for a moment, then heaved a sigh of relief. “Well, I’m glad that cat’s out of the bag. I’m just not cut out for this undercover stuff. More of a take ‘em on head first kinda guy.”

“Undercover?” Buffy asked carefully. “You are investigating us?”

Riley just barely picked up the dangerous tone in her voice.

“Is that why you’re dating me? To learn about us?”

Looking extremely uncomfortable by this time, he studied the toes of his shoes for several seconds before he could meet her eyes.

“Well, yes, sort of, at first. But not now!” he paused and asked plaintively, “Could we talk about this somewhere privately?”

“I really don’t think I want to talk to you right now, Riley.” Buffy said coldly. “You’d probably better just go.”

After he slunk out the door as best someone his size could, Buffy shook her head and said ruefully, “ Well, the Buffy Summers romance machine is in fine form again.”

The only one who didn’t groan in agreement was Xander.

“Buff? I think he really likes you – and it couldn’t hurt to have some help this time, could it?”

Giles nodded his head and said, “I can’t believe I’m agreeing with Xander on this, but he may be right. Perhaps this isn’t something you should try to face alone.”

“I don’t plan to do it alone,” Buffy said softly. She offered no explanation for her cryptic comment, just picked up her jacket and walked out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy sat beside the phone in her room, looking at the card in her hand. Then she let out the breath she had been holding and picked up the phone to dial.

There were several rings on the other end and she was just about to hang up when a familiar British voice said “What?”

“Spike?” Buffy asked uncertainly.

“Slayer.” The reply was gruff, but she could tell he was smiling. “What’s up, love?”

“I… I need you. I mean, I need your help wi—“ she was interrupted by his terse, “Two days.”

“What? To what?”

“Two days, love. I’ll be there in two days.”

“Oh – OK, I’ll see you then – in two days,” she paused, started to speak, then changed her mind.

“Somethin’ else, pet?” he asked.

“No, I guess… no, nothing. I just…. ” (I missed you!) “It’s good to hear your voice again. That’s all.” She was blushing furiously and was glad he couldn’t see her.

He didn’t reply immediately, then said gently, “I missed you too, Buffy” (You have no idea how much) “I’ll be there as quickly as I can. Wait for me, love. Don’t do anything heroic and stupid before I get there.”

“I won’t,” she promised softly.

She carefully put the phone down on its base and gnawed on her finger. “This is either the smartest thing I’ve ever done, or the dumbest," she mumbled. “Well, it’s done now. All I can do is wait till he gets here and see what happens.” She tried to ignore the feeling of anticipation and excitement that she felt knowing Spike would be back in Sunnydale soon, but her body was tingling all over and she knew her face was flushed. “Great, at this rate, I’ll be a basket case by the time he gets here.”

Chapter One

Giles tried several times to question her about her comments at the meeting, but she just put him off with an “I don’t want to talk about it yet. I’ll let you know when you need to know.”

She didn’t see Riley again and was grateful she didn’t have class with Professor Walsh the rest of the week. The second night after her phone call finally arrived and she was dithering so much over her hair and clothes that Willow finally said, “Buffy? Are you going patrolling or on a date?”
With a guilty start, Buffy stopped fussing with her hair and replied, “Oh, just patrolling. That’s all. But you never know who I might run into. I might meet a hot vampire, or….”

“Eeew!” Willow responded. “Do you think you might see Riley? Is that why you’re so nervous?”

“Oh! Riley! Yes, that’s it. I might see Riley and it would be good to see him, because… because… we need to know what they’re doing.” She was giddy with relief at having an acceptable explanation for her behavior, although the truth was, Riley hadn’t crossed her mind since her phone conversation with Spike. She wasn’t even sure if they were still together or not.

With a final coat of lip-gloss, Buffy dashed out the door and onto the campus. It then occurred to her that Spike didn’t even know she was in college now and might have a hard time finding her. While she worried over where he might be and if she should go to her home on Revello Drive so that he could locate her easily, she ran into Riley and a group of his commandos slinking through the woods around the campus.

“Buffy!” He seemed genuinely glad to see her and stopped immediately. “Buffy, I’m sorry about the other day. I really am. We need to talk, I need to explain--"

“It’s OK, Riley.” Buffy reassured him, while her eyes darted around the woods. “Hey, I’m patrolling here, so why don’t you guys go… somewhere else?” she asked brightly.

Riley studied her carefuly. “So, we’re OK, then?” he asked, hesitating as she glanced around nervously. “Cause, I could…”

“No, no, we’re fine. We’ll patrol – I mean, I’ll patrol and you’ll patrol, but in different places. And then, maybe later, or tomorrow, we’ll talk. OK?” she was practically babbling in her eagerness to get rid of him. She could feel her Slayer senses tingling and she knew it was Spike. He was somewhere nearby.

“Well,” Riley hesitated again, “we’re sort of tracking something. Probably a vampire – the heat sensors tell us it’s too cool to be human.”

Just as he finished speaking, Spike stepped out of the shadows and began striding toward them, his leather duster billowing out behind him. He was glaring at Riley, and, although he wasn’t in game face, his eyes were flickering yellow as he strode toward them purposefully.

“There it is, Finn,” shouted one of the soldiers as he brought a weapon up to point at Spike.

“Oh!” Buffy gasped. “Oh, one vamp – no problem, guys. I’ve got him. You go on.” As she spoke, she tackled Spike to the ground and hissed in his ear, “Stay down! Please!” He gave her a startled look, but relaxed and allowed her to sit up and turn to look at Riley. She raised a stake over Spike’s chest and said cheerily, “See? I’ve got him. He’ll be dust in a second. Why don’t you guys go find some other vamps or demons?”

The soldiers looked at Riley for direction, and after staring at Buffy where she was sitting on Spike’s stomach holding her stake over his chest (and frowning at the way her short skirt had ridden up her thighs), he said uncertainly, “OK, stand down, guys. Looks like the Slayer has everything under control here. Let’s go.” As they moved off, he kept looking over his shoulder and wondering why Buffy hadn’t dusted the vampire yet.

When they were no longer in sight and she couldn’t hear them anymore, Buffy relaxed and started to lean forward.

(Am I going to kiss him? Is he going to kiss me?)

Spike stopped her with a hand to her chest and whispered, “They’re not all gone, love, I can hear a heartbeat. Besides yours,” he grinned as his thumb caressed the area between her breasts sending her heart pounding.

She shook his hand off and grumbled, “Damn! How am I going to get out of staking you now?”

“I’m going to use my supernatural strength and speed to escape,” he smirked at her. “And you can try to catch me again. Ready, pet?” he asked and tensed his body. Instead of answering, Buffy became lost in the feel of his hard abdomen against her thong-covered crotch. Unconsciously, she slid backwards toward his hips and tightened the grip of her thighs to hold him still.

He groaned as he felt the heat from her body causing the familiar reaction. “Uh, uh, Slayer, none of that. I need to keep my mind on what I’m doing here. Don’t want to really hurt you, you know.”

She blushed hotly and relaxed her legs. “Sorry,” she whispered. “I just…” Suddenly he was in vamp face and she went flying off as he bounced to his feet. He gave her a wink, then turned and sprinted off at a speed no ordinary human could match.

The Slayer jumped to her feet, sputtering in outrage, then took off after him. As she vanished from the area, Riley stood up from behind the bush where he had been watching and looked after them in bemusement.

This is the girl who stakes five or six vampires a night? Why didn’t she stake him when she had the chance?

Buffy ran as fast as she could and eventually she spotted a bright blond head turning into an empty building. She stopped when she got inside the dark building and cast her Slayer senses around. She could feel him in there and knew he was close, but even her Slayer enhanced eyes couldn’t quite see in the pitch-dark room without time to adjust. Suddenly arms that felt made out of steel pinioned her and she felt sharp teeth graze her neck as he whispered, “The Big Bad has you now, Slayer.”

“Mmmmm” she murmured as her knees went weak and she allowed herself to sag against him. She closed her eyes and leaned into him as he continued to kiss and lick her neck and earlobe.

For several seconds he just held her, inhaling her scent, running his lips and tongue up and down her neck and growling softly. Buffy eventually roused herself enough to turn around in his embrace and nuzzle his neck. He slipped his arms down around her waist and sighed.

“Hey, Big Bad. I missed you,” she said shyly, snuggling into his embrace.

“I missed you, too, love.” He said, pulling her tightly against his chest. “I missed you, too.”

He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead and loosened his grip, stepping back a little and looking at her quizzically, “So, what’s got you hollering for help, Slayer?”

Buffy reacted with surprise and disappointment at his suddenly “all business” attitude, but hiding her hurt as best she could, she stepped back also and said, “I really hated to bother you, (liar, liar, pants on fire) but you said–“

“I said that you were to call me whenever you ran up against something that you thought you couldn’t handle alone. If that’s why you called me, then you did right.”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m the Slayer and I hate asking for help. I should be able to handle this.” She turned away slightly so he wouldn’t see the disappointment on her face.

(And what was I expecting? To be ravished on the spot?)

A voice in her head insisted that was exactly what she was expecting.

Using every ounce of control he’d developed in his one hundred plus years as a vampire, Spike resisted the urge to crush her against his chest and kiss her unconscious. As much as he wanted to hold her and make love to her, he also wanted to know what they were facing and who the man was she had been talking to when he found her. He was slightly embarrassed at his jealous reaction when he saw them talking, but their body language and what he heard of the conversation told him they had some kind of relationship. He wasn’t about to let on how much he wanted this girl (woman, she’s a woman now) until he had some idea where he stood with her.

“Well, there are two things, apparently. The one I called you about is a monster that seems to be part man, part demon and part machine. We don’t know where he came from but he is very powerful; much stronger than me. So far nothing we’ve come up with seems to hurt him. He is gathering vamps and demons in the caves under the town and we think he’s planning a take-over of Sunnydale as soon as his army is big enough. I’ve been slaying as many as I can every night, but they keep coming. I just can’t get them all.” She stopped and her shoulders slumped. For the first time, he noticed the circles under her eyes and how worn-down she looked.

“Not getting’ much sleep, are you, Slayer?” he asked gently.

She just shook her head “no” and tried to stand up straighter. “It’s OK.” She said in her perkiest voice. “I don’t need that much sleep. Really!”

The vampire put his hands in his pockets so as to resist the urge to fold her in his arms. Instead, he put on his most casual expression and asked, “And the soldier boys?”

“They’re the other thing,” she admitted. “It’s some kind of secret government agency sent here to fight demons. But they don’t kill them; they usually just capture them. We haven’t been able to find out where they take them or why they want them.”

“Just demons?” he raised his eyebrow at her.

“Pretty much – they usually just kill the vamps.” She looked at him apologetically.

“And Captain America?” he looked at her intently. Buffy looked away and stumbled over her words as she said, “Well, Riley, he’s... uh…we were… but we’re not… at least I don’t think….” She raised her head defiantly. (I have a right to a life!) “He is, or was, my boyfriend. We just got him to admit that he’s part of that group the night I called you. It turns out he started dating me to find out more about me. But now….”

“Now he’s in love with you.” The vampire said flatly.

“I guess. I don’t know. We need to talk about it.” She peered at him through her hair to see what his reaction would be. A pang of something she chose not to identify went through her chest as he just shrugged and said casually, “Well, makes sense he’d fall in love with you. I can understand that, Slayer.” He looked at her intently and held her eyes with his as he asked, “Do you love him?”

Buffy felt herself falling into those incredible blue eyes and tried to form an answer that wouldn’t make them go away. “I don’t know. I guess I could. Maybe I was starting to – it’s complicated. He lied to me – and he was spying on us – and….give me a reason not to love him her eyes pleaded.

For just a second, Spike went into game face and snarled. He pushed the demon back and was quickly wearing his beautiful human face, but Buffy had seen the reaction and her heart skipped happily.

He cares, he does care.

“So,” he said with a growl, “he lied to you, spied on you, and is involved with a secret military operation that’s trampling around on your territory. Want me to kill him for you, Slayer?” he asked, half-seriously.

“What! Oh, no. God, no!” her panicked response made him grin, and she punched him lightly on the arm. “Stop that! I thought you were serious.”

He stopped grinning and reached for her, pulling her close enough to touch her forehead with his. “If he ever hurts you….” he rumbled, “you’ll see how serious I am.”

Ok, a vampire is talking about killing my boyfriend for me. Why is that making me happy?

“Spike,” she said very seriously, “I want you to stay as far away from Riley and his men as you can get. To them you’re just another vampire. They’ll dust you or capture you, and I couldn’t….” She stepped closer to him and looked up at him with fearful eyes, “and I couldn’t live with myself if I brought you here and something happened to you.”

“Why not, Slayer? What do you care what happens to an evil vampire?”

Tell me, love. Please tell me.

Because it would kill me.

“Well, it would be my fault. And that’s just… wrong. And I need you to help me fight Adam!”

A fleeting expression of disappointment flickered across his face as he stepped back and said coldly, “Well, don’t worry about it. Big Bad, here, remember? I can take care of myself.” Changing the subject quickly, he asked, “So, where’s this robot/demon/man hang out? Adam is it? Sounds like a right ponce.”

“That’s what he calls himself. We really don’t know much about him. But I think Riley does – he was really angry that I wasn’t going to back off and leave him to them.”

Pushing back his demon, Spike managed to say, “Well, you obviously need to get back into the soldier boy’s good graces so you can find out what he knows then.”

“Yes, I suppose I do. I’ll see him tomorrow and try to get him to tell me more about it. Now that he knows we know about the Initiative, maybe he’ll be more honest about what they’re doing there.”

They stood uncomfortably for several minutes, neither one wanting to leave, but both afraid to say or do anything that might invite a rejection.

I guess he doesn’t want me any more – I probably wasn’t very good the first time. He’s just honoring his promise to help me.

Buffy tried to hide her disappointment behind chatter about the Scoobies and Giles.

She’s grown up, moved on with her life. Got a boyfriend. Probably disgusted with herself for what she did with me. Just called me cause she needed muscle.

Spike tried to swallow his disappointment but his demon was screaming for Riley’s blood.

They talked as they walked back toward her dorm. The tension between them was so strong it practically vibrated the air. The vampire kept his hands jammed into the pocket of his duster; the Slayer kept hers busy twirling a stake.

Just before they got to the door they heard a scream and Buffy rushed into the darkened alley behind the building.

“Willow!” she cried as she waded into the pack of vampires surrounding her friend. She staked two of them and was busy fighting two others when she saw the two holding Willow begin to drag her away. She quickly kicked one of the vamps off and dusted the other as she flipped past him. Suddenly, the two trying to escape were stopped by the sight of a master vampire blocking the way.

“Spike!” Willow squeaked, sure she was going from the frying pan to the fire.

“Hi, Red,” he grinned. “How’s it going?”

“Um, can’t complain. Well, except for these two guys - ow!” she yelled as one of them tried to pull her around Spike. It hurt her arm because the vamp holding her other arm was frozen to the ground with Spike’s hand around his throat. The older vampire continued squeezing as he lifted him off the ground, until he had squeezed through the neck and the head popped off, leaving a drifting cloud of dust. The one holding her gawked at Spike, then shoved Willow at him. “Here, if you want her, you take her,” he said and ran off. Spike caught her easily and set her back on her feet.

Willow was eyeing Spike warily as Buffy ran up to them and she moved quickly to put the Slayer between herself and Spike. She noticed that Buffy wasn’t surprised to see Spike and also that she didn’t seem inclined to stake him.

“Uh, Buffy?” She nudged her. “That’s Spike. Shouldn’t you be doing something about him?”

“Well, you’re the one he saved Will. I think you should be the one to thank him." She giggled at Willow’s expression then nodded her head at Spike adding, “I’m serious, Willow.”

“Er, um, thank you, Spike,” Willow sputtered out, shaking her head.

“Anytime, Red.” He smirked at her. “Anytime I’m not hungry, anyway….hey!” He laughed as Willow cringed away and Buffy punched his arm.

“Stop that! You’re scaring her. Willow, he’s not going to hurt you – he’s kidding.” She looked at him anxiously, “You are kidding, right? You aren’t going to eat any of my friends, are you?”

“No pet, the Scoobies are safe from me,” he assured her.

Willow was looking back and forth between the two blonds, trying to figure out what was going on and why Buffy and her mortal enemy suddenly seemed to be friends.

“Uh, Buffy? Am I in some alternate dimension? Why is Spike not eating us?”

Buffy and Spike looked at each other and he tilted his head and said softly, “You explain, pet.”

“He’s here to help me, Will. With Adam. I’ll explain it tomorrow, when we’re all together.”

“All?” he raised his eyebrow at her.

Buffy flushed and said, “I want everyone to see you with me. So they believe you’re here to help us.”

Willow watched in complete befuddlement. Buffy and Spike – not trying to kill each other. Spike snarking, but not in a mean way. Buffy hitting him – but more in play than like a Slayer. Shaking her head, she said, “I can’t wait to hear this explanation. But I’m going in now. Good night Buffy.” She paused, “Good night, Spike. And, thank you again.”

“My pleasure, Red. See you tomorrow night.”


Chapter Two

Buffy broke the uncomfortable silence that followed Willow’s departure by asking, “Where are you staying? How will I find you tomorrow night?”

“I’ll be in one of the crypts in Sunnydale cemetery. Tell me where to be tomorrow night and I’ll meet you there.”

Or, you could spend the night with me.

“Oh.” Buffy tried not to sound disappointed. “ I thought it might be good if you came in with me. Less chance of accidental stakeage that way. But if you don’t want to…

If you don’t want me with you.

The two super-powered blonds stood a few feet apart – neither one wanting to say good night and neither one willing to admit it.

“Well…”

“I guess….”

“I was just going to say, I should probably be getting in. I mean if you don’t want – if you don’t need any help finding a crypt – or anything. “

If you don’t want me.

“Sure, pet, I’ll be fine. I still remember where the cemeteries are in Sunnydale. Sleep tight, Slayer.

With me, sleep with me.

“Ok, you too.”

“Oh, no problem. I’ll be out like a light”

Well, good”

“Yeah, nothing like a good night’s sleep”

“Um, Ok then. I'll just be going… now… I guess…”

“Sod this!” he exploded. “I can’t stand it anymore.” He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her roughly to him, capturing her mouth with his and losing himself in the taste and feel of her.

Buffy melted into him; surrendering to the kiss she’d been aching for since she first saw him. She was almost sobbing with relief as he clutched her to him and murmured into her mouth. When they finally took a break so Buffy could get more than a quick gasp of air, he noticed a tear. “What’s wrong, love?” he asked worriedly. “Did I hurt you?”

Buffy gave a shaky laugh and shook her head, “I don’t know,” she said. “I just - I was so afraid you didn’t want me any more. And I– “

Growling in her ear, he pulled her close again, “I will always want you, Slayer. Don’t ever doubt that.” As he held her against him, she could feel the proof of his desire pushing against her leg and suddenly removing the cloth barriers between them became the most important thing she could think of. Already Spike’s hands were under her shirt and moving around her back, sending shivers through her as he touched her bare skin.

She pulled him back into the shadow of the alley. As soon as they were safely hidden in the dark, he pushed her up against the wall and ran his hand up her thigh where he found her already wet and throbbing for him. He pushed aside her thong and smiled at her sharp gasp as his fingers touched her. He ran his fingers around her folds, flicking her clit with his thumb as he did, then put two fingers inside her and smiled again as she clenched around them.

Buffy’s legs were too weak to hold her up, but she kept an arm around his neck as her other hand fumbled at the waistband of his jeans. As soon as she had him unbuttoned and unzipped, his erection sprang out and she wrapped her hand around its cool length. His hiss of pleasure told her he still wanted her touch and she squeezed gently and moved her fingers to run around the tip, spreading the pre-cum tantalizingly.

“Got to have you, now, love,” he said hoarsely. “Want you so bad…
Slayer,” he gasped, “now, love? Please now?”

Non-verbal Buffy answered the only way she could –by jumping up and wrapping her legs around his waist. She lowered herself onto him, never taking her eyes off his as she sank down inch by inch. With a groan, he pushed into her warmth, then froze, trying to get some control before he started thrusting. Impatient Buffy squeezed him gently with her Slayer-enhanced muscles and he twitched and murmured with a smile “”Ah, don’t do that love. Want to make this last at least a few minutes.”

Buffy giggled and relaxed, enjoying the wonderful feeling of being completely filled by him. For a minute, they just clung together, happy to be connected again and almost reluctant to move and hasten the end.

“You feel so good, love. I could stay here all night,” he rumbled in her ear as he sucked on her ear lobe.

“But probably not a good idea – what with the sun coming up in a few hours.” She murmured into his neck.

“Soddin’ sun spoils everything,” he muttered, beginning to move against her almost against his will. Buffy began to rock her hips in the same rhythm and it was like the past two years had never happened.

“Tell me this feels as good to you as it does to me, Slayer.”
(It couldn’t possibly, but tell me it does)

“It’s…..I…..there’s…… (How do I say how right this feels?) Welcome home, Spike.”

Apparently that was a good answer, as he groaned and increased the pace of his thrusting, moving his hips just enough at the end to touch that little bundle of nerve endings that no one else had ever found.

Biting into his shoulder so as not to scream her pleasure aloud, Buffy’s orgasm left her shaking and unable to think coherently. As soon as he felt her clench around him, the vampire growled his release and shuddered as he emptied himself into her.

After several minutes of mutual recovery time, Buffy pushed herself reluctantly away from his chest and slid down his body until her feet were on the ground. Spike gave a low growl as his softened cock slid out of her warmth, but he grudgingly loosened his grip so that she could lean back and breathe.

“Don’t go in, Slayer. You know we’re not half finished yet,” he whispered, his breath tickling her ear and sending chills down her spine. With a visible shudder, she shook herself and pulled away from him.

“I know – but I need to get inside. Willow will wonder where I am, and….” The rest of the sentence was lost in another bone-melting kiss. With a moan, she allowed herself to sag against him, knowing he wouldn’t let her fall. As he pulled back from the kiss, she heard whimpers and realized they were coming from her throat. Spike was kissing and licking her neck, sending her Slayer-senses into outright war with her hormones.

“It’s been too long, love. I can’t let you go yet. Want to love you forever.” At her startled twitch, he froze and groaned, “I’m thinkin’ out loud again, aren’t I?”

She giggled softly and nodded her head.

“’S’what you do to me, pet. Being close to you turns my brain to mush.” He gave her a sheepish smile and ran his knuckles softly down her cheek. She smiled and leaned into his touch.

“I know what you mean,” she said shyly, ducking her head.

“Do you, pet? I wonder,” he said, tipping her chin up and staring into her eyes. Buffy tried to meet his gaze, but the intensity in those piercing blue orbs was too much and she had to look away. She couldn’t see the pain that flashed briefly across his face, but she felt him pull away from her.

“Right, then,” he said abruptly, as he straightened up and zipped his pants. “Back to business. What’s the plan?”

Confused and hurt by his sudden change in attitude, Buffy didn’t answer immediately.

(Is that all he wanted? A quickie in the alley?)

She straightened her clothing, refusing to look at him as she did so.

“Well, I’m going to meet Riley tomorrow and see if he will tell me what the Initiative is doing with all the demons they’re capturing.”

“So,” he said as casually as he could, “you’ll be needin’ to spend some time with him. Smooth out any issues between you….”

(If he touches you, he’s food!)

“I guess so….he certainly won’t tell me anything if he thinks we’re broken up or that I’m still mad at him…” She glanced quickly at the vampire, but his face was closed and impassive.

“Right, “ he ground out. “Kiss and make up. That’s the ticket, then”

“No! I mean, yes, yes, that’s what I’ll have to do. I’ll have to make him think we’re still together….”

“Are you? Together? Tell me the truth, love. It won’t affect my helping you. I just need to know where I stand….” The cold mask of his face cracked for just a second and his eyes begged her to say what he wanted to hear.

Buffy searched his face with her eyes for a few seconds, then asked softly, “Is there a reason why we shouldn’t be?”

(Please, Spike, give me a reason.)

“Only you can answer that, Slayer. Depends on what this means to you.” The vamp pulled her head toward him and kissed her gently, allowing the kiss to deepen gradually until they were both oblivious to anything but the taste and smell and feel of each other. When he finally let her go, he waited patiently for her response with his forehead lightly touching hers.

“You tell me, love. Is there a reason? What did that mean to you?”

“That you’re a really, really good kisser?” she ventured.

“True enough, but not what I’m lookin’ for exactly. An’ you know it, Slayer.”

“What are you looking for, Spike? I want you. You know that. I couldn’t lie about it if I wanted to. But I’m the Slayer, The Chosen One. I can’t just fa – I can’t have a relationship with a soulless vampire. No matter how much I might want to.” She finished softly, looking at her feet.

“Just tell me you want to, love,” he whispered. “That’ll do me, for now.”

She looked up at him and flinched again at the intensity in those eyes. “It’s wrong…I shouldn’t…I can’t….” As her mouth murmured protests, her eyes were filling with tears and her body was leaning into him so she finished her protestations with his arms wrapped around her and her head resting on his chest. “I’m a bad Chosen One.” She sniffled as her arms went around his waist.

“And I’m a pitiful excuse for a master vampire,” he smiled into her hair. “So much for my reputation as a killer of slayers.”

Buffy twitched at this reminder of his vampire nature and pulled away from him.

(You stupid git. You had to remind her, didn’t you?)

He reluctantly released her from his embrace and stepped back.

“I’ll let you go in now, pet. Tell me where to meet you tomorrow night.”

“We’ll be at Giles’ apartment. Give me a few minutes to prepare everybody before you show up.”

“OK, love,” he said leaning in to run his lips down her neck. “See you tomorrow night. Sleep tight, Slayer, “ he added as he pulled her earlobe into his mouth and sucked on it briefly.

Electricity shot through Buffy’s body and she pushed him away, smacking his chest. “If you really want me to sleep, keep your lips to yourself.”

At his self-satisfied chuckle, she growled, “Two can play at that game, Fang Face”. As she spoke, she lightly ran her fingertips across the bulge in his pants. She smiled at the groan she elicited from him and sprinted for the door of the dorm before he could grab her.

“Good Night, Spike,” she giggled as she ran into the building.

“Good night, Slayer,” he said softly as he turned away.


Chapter Three


As Buffy approached the coffee shop where she had agreed to meet Riley, she took a mental deep breath and tried to push all the images of a sexy blond vampire out of her brain.

“OK,” I she chided herself mentally. “This is Riley. The fact that he’s one of the commandos doesn’t change the fact that he’s a nice guy and he likes you. Just explain how important it is that you know what’s going on…..”

She fixed a perky smile on her face and entered the shop. She spotted Riley and felt a twinge of guilt as his face lit up at her approach. He got up and hugged her briefly, then pulled out her chair for her and sat back down.

“Well,” she said.

“Yes, well,” he replied. “ I guess we have some talking to do.”

“Yes, I suppose we do,” she said carefully. “Where do you want to start?”

“Can we start with why you let that vampire get away last night?”

Buffy’s eyes got wide and she cringed with guilt until she remembered that he had been spying on her. “Well, we could. But that would lead to questions about why you chose to hide and spy on me instead of leaving. And I really don’t think you want to go there just yet.” She finished, her expression changing from “caught” to combative.

“I was worried about you,” he mumbled. “I thought you might need help…”

“Riley, I’ve tried and tried to explain to you what I do. I rarely need help – and certainly not for one vamp.”

“And yet, it got away. And you obviously didn’t catch it since my men spotted it later that night leaving campus.”

Buffy’s heart raced with anxiety as she said, “They saw him? Did they…? Is he….?”

Riley looked at her strangely as he replied slowly, “No, they couldn’t catch it. It seems to be a little smarter than the usual run of vampires around Sunnydale.”

Giddy with relief, Buffy blurted out, “Yeah, Spike’s a master vampire. One of the few left. You don’t get to be that old without learning a thing or …..” Her voice trailed off as she saw Riley looking at her with horror.

“Spike? It has a name?” he stammered. “And you know it?”

“He has a couple of names – and yes, I know him. He’s been to Sunnydale before.”

“Why didn’t you kill him then?”

“Oh, I tried, believe me! But we’re very evenly matched, Spike and I, neither one of us was ever able to kill the other. And then we, just……”

“Just?”

“We stopped trying to. We made a truce. He left Sunnydale and I went back to my usual slayage.” Buffy hoped she wasn’t as flushed as she felt as memories of how and why they stopped trying to kill each other raced through her mind.

Riley just looked at her dumbstruck until he finally said, “So, he’s harder to kill than the average vamp – even for a Slayer.”


(Did I detect a bit of condescension in his tone?)

“Interesting. I guess we’ll need to be careful when we bring him in.”

“Bring him in? Bring him in where?” she tried to keep her voice even and unconcerned sounding, but her heart was racing at the implications. “I think it’s time you shared with me, don’t you?”

Riley sighed, then agreed, “I don’t have authorization to do this, but…..”

Buffy smiled at him. “I am the Slayer, Riley. Surely it’s OK to let me know what’s going on with the demons in my town?”

“You know, Buffy, most of us had never heard of you before a few weeks ago. And those that had thought the Slayer was a myth. Something to frighten baby vampires with.”

“Well, here I am – all un-mythy and in the flesh. So share.”

He shook his head saying, “I hope I don’t regret this.” He then proceeded to fill her in on the Initiative and its mission to destroy demons and vampires.

When he stopped, Buffy studied him for a minute, then asked, “So why capture them then? Why not just kill them?”

He looked uncomfortable for a minute, then admitted, “There’s some….experimentation going on, I think. The labs are looking for ways to control them – put them to use maybe….”

“Use? What use could a demon be?”

“Well, they’re very powerful, and deadly, and, if they could be controlled –“

“Weapons,” Buffy said flatly. “You want to use them for weapons.” She got up to leave, spinning away from the table.

Buffy!” Riley grabbed her arm, “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. But why do you care? They’re just animals….”

Buffy just looked at him. “Is that why you want Spike?” she asked grimly.

“Well, yeah, we have this new technology we want to try, but we need a strong vampire for the experiment. He’d be perfect.”

“Do not touch him, Riley! He is not an animal to be experimented on.”

“He’s a vampire, Buffy. A dangerous one. You said so yourself. You should be happy to have him neutralized.”

“No one touches Spike except me. I decide if he gets ‘neutralized’ or not.

She looked pointedly at his hand on her arm. “I’m leaving now, Riley.”

“Buffy, don’t leave like this. We need to talk more.” His large hand was still clutching her arm. He was confident she couldn’t leave until he let go and he smiled at her and said, “I’m not letting you leave yet.”

She stared at him in astonishment. “You haven’t listened to a thing I’ve said, have you?” she asked incredulously. “About anything?”

“Oh I know you’re a little physically enhanced somehow – just like we are,” he revealed. “But, I’m twice your size…”
His confident speech was abruptly interrupted as Buffy flexed her arm and threw him off into the table.

“You’re an idiot, Riley,” she said as she left the shop. “Spike will have you for lunch,” she muttered under her breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once the Scoobies were all assembled and looking at her expectantly, Buffy realized that they weren’t likely to be any more enthused about Spike’s presence than Riley was. She considered the best way to approach the subject. Taking a deep breath, she began, “Guys, Giles, do you remember the other day when I said I wasn’t planning to take on Adam alone?”

Giles looked at her curiously and said, “Yes, I remember. I’ve been asking you to clarify it for two days.”

“Well, I’m ready to do that now – but it’s going to take some explaining.”

There was a gasp from Willow, whose eyes were huge as she realized who Buffy was talking about.

Everyone looked at her curiously, then back to Buffy.

“Willow?” Giles asked. “Do you know what Buffy’s talking about?”

“I… I think so….” she said as she looked at Buffy for confirmation. Her friend nodded her head briefly, then turned to the rest of the group.

“Ok, guys, I know this is going to be a little hard to understand but I’m asking you to trust me.” She took another deep breath and said as she let it out again, “Spikesgoingtohelplme.”

Giles and Xander looked horrified as they realized what she said. Anya and Tara just looked puzzled, as neither of them had been around when Spike was in Sunnydale before.

Giles looked at her sternly and asked, “Did you just say Spike was going to help you? Spike? As in, William the Bloody? Slayer of slayers?”

“Have you lost your mind?” Xander yelped.

Buffy waited for them to stop babbling, then said quietly, “Did any of you every wonder why Spike disappeared so suddenly two years ago? And why I told you I thought he was gone for good?”

Giles shook his head, “I just assumed he’d decided he wasn’t going to be able to kill you and moved on to somewhere there was no slayer.”

“We were just glad he was gone,” Xander said. “Who cared why?”

“So, Buffy,” Giles asked sternly, “Why did he leave?”

Buffy felt the blood rush to her face as she tried to answer without revealing too much.

“Well, we had a fight – another fight – and he…..he beat me.” Giles blanched and Xander and Willow gasped.

“You aren’t a vampire now, are you?” Anya asked.

“No, of course not,” she snapped.

“And why aren’t you?” Giles asked quietly, looking at her hard.

Hoping her face wasn’t giving her away, Buffy responded with as much of the truth as she could.

“He didn’t kill me right away – he asked me a question. I answered it, and then we….talked. Spike and I.”

“You talked? You carried on a conversation with a vampire that was trying to kill you?” Xander said in shock.

“Actually,” Giles said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them, “that’s not a bad strategy for saving one’s life. I commend your creative thinking. I take it, it worked, then?”

“Yes,” Buffy said shortly, hoping Giles would never figure out exactly how “creative” she had been.

“What did you talk about,” Anya asked brightly.

“We, um, we talked about fighting and about how evenly matched we were, and how much fun it was to fight with each other, and….and after awhile we decided we didn’t really want to kill each other anymore.”

“Must have been one hell of a conversation,” Xander snarked.

Buffy struggled to keep her face impassive and wished for something to hide the color she was sure was flooding it. Giles stared at her thoughtfully, but refrained from pursuing the subject in front of the others.

“So,” he asked slowly. “How does this conversation two years ago result in Spike’s helping you now?”

“He was… worried… about me. That I would meet something too big, that I couldn’t handle alone and he told me to call him if I ever needed help. So I did, and he came.”

“He what? He’s here? Spike’s back in Sunnydale? Why haven’t we seen him?”

“I’ve seen him,” Willow ventured. While Tara and Xander gawked at her, she continued, “ He saved me from a group of vamps last night.”

Disbelief clearly visible on his face, Xander said, “To eat himself, I’ll bet!”

“Um, no. He told Buffy he wouldn’t eat any of us.”

“Humph!” he snorted. “I’ll believe that when I see it!”

At the sound of knocking on the door, Buffy said, “Well, here’s your chance, Xander.” And moved to the door.

The sight of the blond vampire standing in the doorway sent the whole crew of Scoobies retreating to the far end of the room. Spike just laughed and leaned against the door jamb, cigarette dangling from his lips.

“Well, Watcher, are you going to invite me in?” He raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

Giles looked at his Slayer’s anxious face and said, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Buffy.” She nodded her head and said, “Please, Giles.”

“Come in, Spike.” The Watcher said clearly, moving closer to the door.

The vampire sauntered into the room, casting an appraising eye at Tara and Anya, hiding behind Willow. “Evenin’, Red,” he drawled. “Who’re your friends?”

“Uh, this is Tara,” she stammered, “and this is Anya.”

“Nice to meet you, ladies,” he said, giving them his most charming smile. Tara blushed and looked down while Anya studied him appraisingly.

He ignored Xander completely and turned to ask Buffy, “So, pet, are we having a meeting or not?”

Giles cleared his throat and said, “Yes, quite. We should all share our information and see what else we’ve learned.”

Willow told about being attacked by the vampires the night before. Spike mentioned that it was strange they didn’t just drain her right there and she said they seemed to be trying to take her somewhere. Buffy frowned at that and wondered out loud who would want Willow and why.

Tara, who rarely spoke at the Scoobie meetings, stammered out, “W... well, you are becoming a very powerful witch – ma... maybe somebody wanted to use you for a spell or something.”

“That’s certainly possible,” Giles agreed. “Willow, perhaps you need to be more cautious than usual for awhile. Next time, Buffy – and Spike – might not be there to save you.

Buffy went on to talk about the info she got from Riley. Spike became very still at the mention of the soldier’s name and remained quiet and impassive until Buffy got to the part about them wanting to experiment on him. He went briefly into game face and growled, sending everyone but Buffy cringing away from him. He relaxed immediately, and smiled reassuringly at the girls. When Buffy told about walking out and Riley’s attempt to physically stop her, both Giles and Spike sat up. The watcher to ask, “What did you do?” concerned about what the answer might be. The vampire just got up and headed for the door, eyes flashing yellow.

“Spike.” Buffy leaped up and put her hand on his arm. He stopped but didn’t turn around. She could feel the tension in his body and she added softly, “Don’t. Please?”

To everyone’s astonishment, after a tense few seconds, he visibly relaxed and turned around. He came back to his seat, shooting Buffy an apologetic look before he sat back down.

“What the hell just happened here?” Xander asked no one in particular. Giles looked speculatively at the vampire and slayer – noting the little smile Buffy gave Spike as he came back in the room, as well as her sigh of relief when he sat down.

“I repeat, Buffy, what did you do when he tried to stop you?”

“I left,” she said flatly, daring anyone to ask any more questions.

Undaunted, Anya asked cheerily, “Did you hurt him, Buffy?”

“Yeah, Slayer. Did you break the boy?” Spike snarked.

Glaring at Anya and kicking Spike’s ankle hard enough to get a “bloody hell” out of him, she answered tersely, “I doubt it. The table might have suffered a little damage, though….”

Everyone laughed at the image of Riley being tossed into a table and Giles relaxed a little.

“All right, let’s go over what we know – the Initiative is killing and experimenting on demons and the occasional vampire.” He glanced at Spike. “They are also pursuing Adam – and seem to know something about him.”

“Oh!” Buffy piped up, “and the guys are much stronger than normal. I knew Riley was pretty strong (under the table she pressed her leg against Spike’s in warning and he swallowed his growl), but he said something yesterday about my enhancements being like his.”

Spike snorted and Giles smiled briefly before asking, “He’s as strong as you?”

“Oh, no. No superpowers that I can tell – not like me – or, or like Spike – but definitely more than a normal human.”

“Could there be a connection between the Initiative and Adam?” Willow wondered. “I mean, enhanced soldiers, captured demons, man/monster combo bad guy?”

“That’s an excellent thought, Willow.” Giles nodded approvingly.

“And it would explain why they’re so hot to handle him themselves,” Xander put in. “If they created him…..”

“If they created him, they’ve got some serious ‘splainin’ to do,” Buffy said grimly. “He’s been responsible for a lot of deaths in the last few months.”

“Didn’t you say they were experimenting with using demons as weapons?” Xander asked. “Maybe he’s an experiment gone wrong.”

“That makes sense,” Willow agreed. “They made him and now they can’t control him and they’re trying to fix it.”

“But, what would they want Spike for then?”

“Hey, I’d make a great weapon!” he protested.

“Riley said they had a new technology to control vampires – but they needed a really strong one to experiment on. That’s why he wants Spike.”

“How do they know how strong I am, pet?” he asked, looking at her out of the corners of his eyes.

Buffy colored slightly and stammered, “Well, I might have… .he said they couldn’t catch you last night and I… might have mentioned that you were really old and… I’m sorry, Spike.” She sighed. “I guess I put the idea in his head.”

“Braggin’ on me, were you, Slayer?” he smirked at her.

Buffy rolled her eyes and snapped, “I had to tell him something to explain how I let you get away, didn’t I? I’ve spent all this time trying to make him understand how powerful I am and then he sees you toss me off like a flea….”

“Well,” he drawled, “you could have told him you were distracted by--“

Buffy’s eyes got huge, then narrowed as she gave him a glare that should have caused him to burst into flame. “Spike!” she hissed.

He laughed, then noticed the looks they were getting from the Scoobies and he shifted slightly away from the Slayer as he said, “Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Slayer. I’m just having some fun with you.”

“This is me, not laughing,” she grumbled at him.

“All right, you two. Whatever that’s about, we don’t have time for it now,” Giles interrupted. “Buffy, exactly how do you expect Spike to be of help to you?”

Buffy looked at the blond vampire and realized she hadn’t actually thought any further ahead than having Spike there.

“Um, well, he’s really strong and he fights well, so I just thought he’d…..”She threw him a desperate look.

“I’ll have her back, Watcher. Or fight beside her if that’s what it takes to beat this thing. ‘Sides, if he’s collecting vamps like she says, he might be real happy to find me. I could get on the inside and maybe find out when he plans to take over.”

“That’s not a bad suggestion,” Giles agreed at the same time as Buffy said, “No! That’s too dange-“ Spike touched her foot with his gently and she swallowed the rest of her protest.

The meeting broke up with all agreeing that waiting to see if Adam made contact with Spike was the best plan. Willow offered to go on-line and see what she could dig up on demon hybrids, animate weapons research, etc. As everyone moved toward the door, Giles touched Buffy’s arm and said quietly, “I’d like to talk to you – and to you, Spike – for a moment.”

Buffy and Spike exchanged glances, then he shrugged and came back into the room. The vampire sprawled across an easy chair, swinging his booted foot and looking bored. Buffy perched primly on the arm of the couch and said, ”Yes, Giles?”

The Watcher removed his glasses, cleared his throat and began, “Perhaps I should hold these conversations separately, but I would like us all to be on the same page here.” He turned to address Buffy and asked, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing here? This is Spike. A soulless vampire who has killed two Slayers. What makes you think you can trust him?”

Buffy sent a panicky look in Spike’s direction, then stammered, “I… I… uh, I just… he promised….”

“I keep my word, Watcher.” Spike said coldly. “And the Slayer knows that.”

“How do you know that?” Giles demanded of Buffy.

“Because he always has. Whether he was promising to kill me or promising not to. He does what he says.”

Giles looked at the stubborn expression on her face and sighed. “I have a feeling there’s more to this than you’re telling me. But, I will trust your judgment - for now,” he added, casting a suspicious eye in Spike’s direction.

Turning to the vampire he asked, “Why are you doing this?”

“I made a promise, and like I already told you, I keep my promises.”

“But why would you make such a promise? I would think you’d be happy if something took out the Slayer.”

“Not this one,” he said shortly. “She’s mine.”

“So, you’ve gone from killer of slayers to protector?” Giles asked skeptically.

“”Well, this one, anyway,” Spike said, casting a look in Buffy’s direction.

“Come on, Spike. Let’s get started,” Buffy said, edging toward the door. She was anxious to get out of there before Giles could ask any more questions.

“What’s your plan for the night, then?” Giles asked them.

Buffy was sure her plans for the night were written all over her face, but she gamely provided what she hoped was a reasonable answer.

“I’m going to patrol for awhile – then I’ll go back to my dorm and Spike will try to make contact with Adam.”

“And what will Spike be doing while you’re patrolling?”

“Watchin’ her back,” he said flatly. At Buffy’s indignant glare, he raised his hands in supplication and added, “From a distance, luv. From a distance.”

“I suppose that’s not a bad idea, just now,” the watcher reluctantly agreed. “We don’t know how many vamps and demons Adam has added to his army. Even you can’t fight them all at one time, Buffy.”

“Humph!” and an eye roll was her only response as she sashayed out the door.

As Spike started to follow her, Giles stepped in front of him and looking every inch the Ripper, he met the vamp’s eyes and growled, “Do I even have to say it?”

Spike shook his head and replied mildly, “I’m here to keep her alive, Watcher, not hurt her. She’s safe with me. Or as safe as a girl in her line of work can be.”

The Watcher grudgingly stood aside and admitted, “I just worry about her. She’s a very special girl.”

“D’you think you’re the only one who’s noticed that, Watcher?” he asked softly and allowed his cocky mask to slip for just a second. While Giles was digesting what he’d seen and heard, the vampire slipped out the door and was gone.

Chapter Four

“What was that all about?” she asked as he easily caught up with her.

“’Bout what you’d expect. If I hurt you, I’m a dust cloud, blah, blah.”

Buffy moved closer to him so that their shoulders brushed as they walked along. Every touch sent a tingle through her body and she wondered if he was as affected by her nearness as she was by his.

Spike tried his best to be unmoved by her presence, but the warmth from her body was like a drug to him and he felt his cock twitch every time she touched him.

When their hands brushed together as they both leaned in at the same time, he took her hand and entwined their fingers. His thumb rubbed gently on her wrist and he could feel the blood pounding through the artery. Instead of making him hungry, it made him more aroused and he anxiously pulled her toward the cemetery.

Just as they reached the gate, they were discovered by a group of vampires led by the one that had tried to abduct Willow the night before.

“Look!” he shouted. “It’s like I told you – he’s with the Slayer.” They all turned toward the two blonds who had immediately dropped hands and gone into fighting stances.

“Get them!” he directed as he carefully put the others between himself and the Slayer. The others were all fledglings and it only took Spike and Buffy a few minutes to dust most of them. When the first vamp saw how the fight was going, he tried to run but was stopped before he got to the gate by a very angry Slayer. After knocking him into a near-by wall, she pinned him to the ground with a stake over his heart.

“Where were you trying to take Willow last night?” she demanded. “And why?” She pushed the stake into his chest hard enough to draw blood and waited for an answer.

“The, the master, Adam, wanted her,” he stammered.

“What for?”

“I don’t know. He just said to get her.”

Buffy ground her teeth in frustration and shook him as though she could get more information that way.

The vampire’s eyes were going back and forth between Spike and Buffy and he gave Spike a 'we’re in this together' look and said, “Sorry I interrupted your hunt. She’s a slayer, you know. I could help you kill her…”

“I don’t need help from the likes of you,” Spike snorted in amusement.

“Well, you could help me out!” he begged. “She’s hurting me!”

“He probably doesn’t know anything, Slayer. He’s just a minion.” He said to Buffy and smiled at the relieved look on the vampire’s face. “You might as well dust him.” He shrugged and watched the relieved look change to one of terror as the captured vamp realized what he had just heard.

Buffy punched him hard enough to knock him unconscious, then stood up to ask Spike, “Couldn’t we follow him back to Adam? I could let him get away and….”

“He’s already seen me with you, love. Sorta spoils my chances of lookin’ like the Big Bad, doesn’t it?”

“Damn! I guess it does. Oh well, can’t let him go, then –“ she turned just in time to see the vamp jump up and tear off. “Hey! Come back here! I wasn’t through with you!”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Damn, damn, damn,” Buffy chanted as they moved through the cemetery.

“Relax, Slayer. I’ll come up with some excuse for being with you and we’ll just go on with the plan.”

“No – you can’t go in there if they know you’re helping me. It’s too dangerous.”

“Worried about me, are you, pet?” he asked softly, as he stopped and cupped her face with his hand.

She leaned into his touch for a second, then pulled away.
“We’ve got to stop touching in public. Adam will never believe you if his minions keep seeing us together.”

“I suppose you’re right, pet. Not to mention what soldier boy might think.” He growled at the thought of Riley having any claims on Buffy.

“That too,” she agreed. “If those commandos think I’m evil too….”

“What?” he sputtered. “You’re the Chosen One, The Slayer, Heaven’s warrior. Are they daft?”

“Calm down. They really don’t know or care what the Slayer is – or who chose her, for that matter. If they see me hanging out with you, they’ll think I’m one of the bad guys. Then I’ll never get a chance to find out more about them.”

“Well then, Slayer, we’ll just have to be sure they don’t see us….” He smirked as he motioned toward one of the crypts.

Buffy raised her eyebrows, but followed him into the dark mausoleum. As soon as she was inside, he kicked the heavy door shut and pulled her into his arms. She tilted her head up for his kiss and felt the world vanish as his soft, cool lips touched hers with a gentleness that took her by surprise.

He ran his tongue lightly around her lips and she immediately parted them to let him in. The kiss was gentle at first. Full of tenderness that tugged at her heart. The longer it continued, the more they were lost in the feel, smell, and essence of each other. Buffy tasted cigarettes and mint and Spike. She could inhale and smell leather and tobacco and his own unique scent. He filled her senses in way no one else ever had or could.

Spike was totally lost in her. With his enhanced senses, he felt like he was drowning in her. He heard and felt the blood rushing through her body, the pounding of her heart, the smell of her arousal as the kiss continued. He was sure his heart was going to start beating any second and he would be as alive as she made him feel.

Before the kiss could turn into another hurried, bodies-against-the-wall shag, he broke it off, smiling at her whimpered complaint when he took his lips away. He dipped in for more quick kisses as he moved her into the room and gently pushed her down toward the floor. She was surprised to feel, rather than the cold concrete she was expecting, a soft cushion under her knees. Spike gave her one more quick peck, then vanished for a second. There was the snick of a lighter and suddenly the room began filling with warm light as the candles Spike was lighting suffused the dark with soft illumination.

Buffy looked around in wonder. She was sitting on a queen-size airbed, covered with soft red linens and quilts. Beside the bed was a low table with a candle, a bottle of wine, two glasses and a box of chocolates.

The candlelight softened the edges of the room making it seem cozy and warm rather than hard and cold.

“D’you like it, pet?” he asked trying not to sound anxious.
“I love it,” she breathed. “When did you….how?”

“I got the stuff last night and put it together today.” He said. “Wanted you to have something better than wet grass and brick walls this time,” he added gruffly.

With the candlelight reflecting yellow in his eyes and casting shadows that made his cheekbones stand out, he looked like a beautiful devil standing over her.

She held her hand up to him and he knelt down to face her. She ran her fingertips lightly over this face, touching his eyebrow, tracing the scar, following his cheekbones and finally touching his mouth. As her fingertips played over his soft lips, she wondered how someone with such a hard body could have such a soft, supple mouth. He kissed her fingers, then gently pulled one of them into his mouth and began sucking on it. His eyes were dark with barely suppressed desire and with a little moan Buffy closed the distance between them and replaced the finger in his mouth with her tongue. As they sank down on the bed, she was already pulling at his shirt, ripping the buttons in her haste to remove it and get her hands on his smooth muscular chest. At the touch of her warm hands, Spike growled and surrendered to the desire flooding his body. He dropped his shirt to the floor and began removing Buffy’s clothes one piece at a time.

Every time she tried to hurry him, he just shushed her with a kiss and kept his cool hands moving around her body, loosening and removing items. As soon as he exposed another section of skin, he spent time worshipping it with his mouth and tongue – sliding down her neck, across her shoulder, back across her chest to her breasts – each one of which got attention from his mouth while his hands were busy pulling off her tight pants and lacy underwear. When he had worked his way down her body to her soft curls, her breath was coming in gasps before his lips or tongue had even found the folds hiding her clit. Burying his face in her, Spike paused to inhale her scent before running his tongue up and down her slit. Holding her down with a hand on her soft-skinned stomach, he ran his tongue over and around until she was pulling on his hair and begging him to let her come. He pulled her into his mouth, biting down gently as he sucked hard on her, sending her hips off the bed and causing her to shriek his name. Her body continued to shake with tremors for minutes after. He slid back up to her head and kissed her ear whispering, “I’ve been waiting for that taste for two years”

“Too long,” Buffy mumbled into his neck. “It was too long.”

“Yeah, it was love, it truly was.” As he spoke, he was gently pushing her legs apart again and she felt him nudge gently at her entrance. Instead of pushing in, the vampire stroked up and down with the tip of his cock, causing them both of moan and shudder every time it reached the opening and then slid away again. As painful as it was for him to wait, he held off burying himself inside her warmth until she grabbed his ass with both hands and pulled him to her, demanding, “Now, Spike!”

“Now what, Slayer? What do you want?”

“You. I want you. Inside me. Now.”

His moan of acquiescence as he quit fighting his own body and slid into her came at the same time as her whispered, “Please”.

As soon as he was filling her completely, they both sighed with relief and pleasure. Content for a moment to savor the feeling.

“Slayer, Buffy, around me, under me, touching me – so warm, so soft and strong, my golden girl, my Slayer,” Spike’s murmuring made a soothing backdrop for the utter contentment that suffused Buffy at the feel of his hard, cool body on hers, the cool column of his cock cooling her burning interior. She wrapped her arms and legs around him in a grip that would have broken bones in a human man and clenched her internal muscles around him. He hissed in pain as she squeezed him and growled his pleasure at the sensation.

Buffy felt the vibrations of the growl throughout her body and moaned at the sensation.

“Liked that, did you?” he rumbled in her ear.

Buffy blushed, then admitted, “It makes me all tingly”

“If a growling vampire can make you all tingly, it’s a wonder you weren’t dead years ago.” He snarked.

“Not just any growling vamp,” she said shyly, “Only one.” Then she continued brightly, “Of course only one has ever growled at me from that particular position, so maybe…..”

“And only one bloody well will!” he growled again, sending the same incredible vibrations through her body.

“Mmmmmm” was her only response as she arched her back and pressed against him even tighter. That movement was more than Spike could take and he began rocking his hips against hers in an easy rhythm, thrusting in and out. Soon the only sounds were the Slayer’s gasps and grunts of pleasure as the vamp slammed into her over and over. As her orgasm built, she wrapped her legs around his thighs, pinning his lower body to hers. He pushed his upper body up on his hands so he could angle his hips in a way that allowed him to touch the bundle of nerves he was seeking and start her screaming his name.

He looked down on her sweaty, flushed face, thrashing back and forth in a tangle of golden hair and thought he’s never seen anything so beautiful. As her muscles spasmed one last time, her eyes flew open and met his. The raw emotion she saw there was met by the undisguised awe on her own face. For just those few seconds that it took him to find his release and collapse on to her, they looked at one another with complete honesty.

This time the vampire didn’t allow her to pull away and he remained inside her, basking in her warmth and the feel of her body under his. Eventually Buffy found she was having trouble breathing with the weight of his undead body on her and she gathered her thoroughly relaxed muscles enough to flip them over so that she was lying on top of him.

“Mmmm, much better,” she murmured. “Air is good.”

Spike shifted his weight underneath her and said, apologetically, “You should have said something, love. I would have moved off.”

She picked her head up to look at him, “Didn’t want you to not be in me. Just needed to breathe.” As she spoke, she sat up with her knees on either side of his hips. She felt him twitch back to life and smiled as he hardened and swelled to fill her again.

“Gotta love that vamp stamina,” she said as she leaned back until her hair was brushing his legs. He grabbed her hips with his lean fingers and held her in place as he began moving his hips up and down. The sight of her body leaning away from him, all sweat-sheened and golden, taut muscles and pert breasts made him groan in pleasure. The sight of her soft brown curls meeting his where their bodies joined was almost enough to make him come before they even started. He watched in wonder as she rode him to her climax, reveling in the sounds she was making and the way she gasped his name as she came. As soon as he heard his name and she clenched around him, he roared his release, pulling so hard on her hips that his fingertips left bruises.

After the necessary minutes to get her muscles to respond again, Buffy pulled herself back to a sitting position on the vampire and wriggled her hips suggestively. He laughed at her and pulled her down onto his chest.

“Not this time, love. Even vampires need some recovery time!”

“Party pooper,” she pretended to pout. “And here I thought you missed me…”

Taking her lower lip in his teeth and biting it gently, Spike said, “I did miss you, pet. You’ll never know how hard it was for me to stay away from you.” Her only reply was to snuggle into him as though she couldn’t get close enough.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence during which he stoked her hair gently, he asked carefully, “So, pet. I guess you didn’t miss me so much? What with the boy friend and all.”

“I started missing you as soon as I couldn’t see you anymore,” she whispered. “Life got very boring without you around.”

“A Slayer’s life, boring?” he raised his head and cocked an eyebrow at her.

“She shrugged and admitted, “Well, in a whole fighting-demons-every- night-stopping-the-occasional-apocalypse kind of way.”

He chuckled and said, “Not like fighting with me, huh, love?”

“No, not like fighting with you. Or – or – like not fighting with you.” She added, blushing furiously. “No body else can-“

His savage snarl and yellow eyes stopped her cold and she tensed until the yellow went back to blue and he gave her an apologetic squeeze. “I’m sorry, love. I can’t stand the thought of anyone else touching you. Not very realistic of me, I guess. You’ve got a right to enjoy your life.”

“And who taught me that I should?” she asked slyly. He sighed and chuckled. “Touché, pet.” Then she huffed, “And I suppose you’ve been living like a monk for the last two years?”

(Lie to me, Spike. Please lie to me.)

He paused for a minute to think about what he needed to say, then began, “I’m a vampire, Buffy. We do what we want, when we want. Sexual fidelity isn’t a part of our lives – even when we care about each other.” He could feel her body grow rigid and she tried to move off him, but he held her tightly. “No, love, let me finish, please.”

She stopped struggling to get away, but remained stiff and unyielding in his arms. Tears prickled behind her eyes, but she held them back grimly.

“I would never knowingly do anything to hurt you.  You have to believe that. But, I didn’t know if I would ever see you again.  Or even if you would want to see me again.  So, yeah, I’ve had a few birds in the last two years. Mostly other vampires.  They didn’t mean anything to me.  Just a way to scratch an itch for awhile.”

 
“Is that what this is?” she asked in a subdued voice. “Am I an itch-scratcher?”

 
“No, love.  You are the itch!” he said as he kissed the top of her head.  “And that is most definitely not what this is to me.”

 

“What is it then? What is it to you?”

 
Everything. It’s everything

 
"I don’t know that I’m clear on that, Buffy.  Depends a lot on what it is to you I guess.”

 
“Oh,” she said meekly.  “I don’t know what it is to me.  more than I want it to be!   I don’t know if it can be anything.  You know, you vampire – me Slayer.  Mortal enemies and all that.”

 
His face closed down and he said flatly, “Right, no future in it. That’s for bloody sure.”  His face and voice were cold, but his arms tightened around her almost imperceptibly.

 

Buffy stared at his face, trying to decide if she should listen to his words or his body.  When he glanced at her briefly and she saw the flash of pain in his eyes, she knew.

 
“I didn’t say that,” she said quietly.  “It’s just very complicated. I’m the Slayer. I can’t just go around falling in...into relationships with vampires.  It’s wrong. The council would--”

 
“Wankers,” Spike muttered.

 
“Yeah, well, got to agree there. Whatever a wanker is.” The corner of her mouth crooked up slightly. “But they do keep an eye on what I’m doing. Even if, or especially if, I’m not doing what they want.  I guess they can’t fire me, though, can they?” she added cheerfully.

 
“No, pet, they wouldn’t fire you,” he said very seriously.  “But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t find a way to see that you weren’t able to keep doing whatever they didn’t like.  And they definitely don’t like me!”  He sighed, and eased her off to lie in the crook of his arm so that he could look at her easily.

 

 “You’re right, love. They wouldn’t like it at all.  And I’d have to be a right selfish bastard to do anything to give them cause to...terminate your employment.”

 

“Ummmm,” Buffy crooned as she nibbled on one of his nipples, “good thing they can’t see us in here, isn’t it?”  She ran her nails down his stomach and smiled as his cock came to attention again.

 
“Yesss” he hissed as she continued to rake her nails over his velvety skin.  “It’s a very good thing.”  He turned to pull her over again, but she batted his hands away and said, “Stay”.

 
“What am I, a lap dog?” he grumbled, but he was smiling and he stayed still while she ran her hands and teeth around his body, scratching lightly and taking small nips of skin here and there.  When she got to his throbbing cock, she bit down gently on the tip and used her teeth and tongue to pull the foreskin back.  Spike’s fingers were digging into the bedding as he struggled to remain still.  “Bloody hell, woman. What are you trying to do to me?” he gasped out.

 

 “I’ve been doing research on vampires,” she said. “I want to show you I can be just as itch-scratchy as any female vampire.  I know biting is a part of lov- of sex for vampires. So you just lie back there and let me show you what a Slayer can do.”

 

He groaned as she squeezed his balls in her warm little hand – just hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to injure him.  “Do you like that?” she purred.  “I could do it harder….” A strangled “No” was all he could gasp out as once again this Slayer proved she was not like any other he had met.

 

 She used her lips and tongue to soothe the bite marks she was leaving all over his cock so that he never knew if her mouth was going to cause pain or pleasure. She took the tip in her mouth and sucked on it as hard as she could until she pulled all the blood to the tip and then, just as he was on the edge of release, she stopped and began planting soft kisses all over it.

 
“You’re killin’ me here, Slayer,” he groaned.

 

 “Ask nicely and maybe I’ll stop,” she said sweetly.

 

           
“Don’t want you to stop.  Don’t ever want you to stop, “ he croaked, “just want…aaaah!….please, love,  please, Buffy,  please.”

 

Using her nails and strong little hands and her blunt teeth, she continued what she'd started until he vamped out and exploded.

 

Very pleased with herself, Buffy curled up beside his trembling body and gently stroked his chest.

 
“How about that for itch-scratching?” she asked smugly.  “Better than some vampire ho?”

 

“No comparison, love. You win, hands down,” he said when he was once again capable of speech.

 

He pulled her close and tugged one of the quilts over them so she wouldn’t be too cold and buried his face in her neck, enjoying the feel of her silky hair and the tang of her sweaty skin.  He used his tongue like a cat to lick the drops of sweat off her face and neck, causing her to giggle when he dropped down to her collarbone.

 
“Tickles,” she murmured as the steady lapping lulled her to sleep.   The vampire, exhausted from fighting his demon – which wanted nothing more that to sink his fangs into her neck while he came, drifted off with her.  They spent the rest of the night tangled together under the quilt.  Even in their sleep, their bodies responded to one another and at one point Buffy woke up with Spike inside her. His eyes were closed and he was purring while his strong arms kept her pulled tightly to his chest and his hips rocked gently against her buttocks.  One hand strayed down to her clit and rubbed softly so that she responded even as she tried to drift back to sleep.  When she felt him shudder and thrust into her in release, she push hard against his hand and felt him tug gently on her until she came with a whimper.  She was back asleep immediately – not even sure if it was real or a dream.