Chapter Twelve

“Can you hear them at all? Smell them?”

Spike looked around, concentrating on his heightened senses. “No. I think that demon Willow saw out here is getting close though.”

“Good. Last one for the night, finally.”

They passed through a row of tall bushes only to find themselves standing in front of two demons. Two demons, Buffy thought with an inward groan. Crap! Deciding not to give them time to get over the surprise of having the slayer suddenly appear out of the foliage, she launched a violent assault.

“Any idea of the best way to kill these guys?” she shouted to Spike as she threw one demon to the ground and spun around to take on his companion. “Throat? Heart?” She swept one leg deftly between the demon’s legs, satisfied when it howled in pain. “Family jewels?” As the demon fell to its knees, clutching its groin, Buffy snapped its neck. Then she shrugged. “That worked.”

“Not for long slayer,” Spike chimed in from the sidelines. “You have to get the heart, same as a vampire, or he’ll get up again.”

“Great,” Buffy growled, dodging a right hook from the second demon. “I’ll get right on that.”

Spike kept his eyes on the fallen demon and his ears on the surrounding area. There was no way he was going to get distracted from his task of keeping Buffy safe from The Initiative.

As the fallen demon stirred, cricking his neck back into place, Spike glanced at the slayer. She still had her hands full. The demon she fought was bigger and stronger than the one at his feet. It was obviously taking everything she had to keep him from gaining the upper hand.

“Ah slayer?” Spike called as the smaller demon stumbled to its feet. “Remember that part about this one getting up again?”

“I’m coming,” Buffy kicked the taller demon in the throat. “Just give me a minute.”

The now standing demon looked clumsily around and spotted Buffy fighting its companion. With a guttural growl it hobbled forward, still clutching its sore groin.

Spike strolled along beside it. “Time to finish up there love. He’s on his way.”

Buffy grunted in frustration. “Spike I’m trying.”

Seeing Buffy was still I the thick of it with the larger demon, Spike watched the smaller one draw closer. With something akin to shock he realised that she was actually in danger. Cursing softly he wracked his brain for a way to help her that wouldn’t cause his brain to feel like it was exploding.

Coming up empty he gritted his teeth and stepped in front of the smaller demon as it was approaching Buffy’s unprotected back. “Alright pissant. This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you. But then I’ll walk away so I guess I’ll still be one up on you.”

Dropping into a fighting stance Spike knew he only had one shot at this. The moment he hit the demon he’d be on the ground screaming in agony, so he had to make that one strike count. It was the heart or nothing.

Determination rippled through him as he dodged a few poorly thrown punches, inching closer to the demon’s torso. Then, gritting his teeth against the coming pain, he thrust his fist forward. Feeling his fingers close around the demon’s heart he twisted and pulled. It beat in his hand once. Twice. Then, as the body of the demon hit the ground, both the demon and the heart disintegrated into a green gelatinous mess.

Spike blinked. No pain. Confused, he stared at the gooey remains of the demon he’d just killed with his bare hands, then shook his head slightly. Definitely no pain. Realisation hit him like a lightening bold: He could kill demons.

He could kill demons!

With a joyful whooping sound Spike spun around to find Buffy still grappling with the larger demon. Intercepting as she was thrown to the ground, Spike began to rain blow after blow down on the unsuspecting demon. He fought with the ferocity of a starved lion that had finally been set free from its cage. Within minutes the larger demon was worn down. As it attempted the flee Spike sprung onto its back. Throwing an arm over its shoulder he plunged his hand into the demon’s chest and ripped out its heart. As the demon crumpled Spike leapt away, narrowly escaping the cascade of goo that splattered on the ground.

Grinning excitedly Spike cleaned off his hand on the grass and turned back to Buffy, who was still sitting on the ground where she’d fallen, with her mouth hanging open. Laughing raucously he picked her up and spun her around before planting a loud smacking kiss on her lips.

Frowning, Buffy looked up at him warily. “What happened to the chip?”

“Nothing. They weren’t human. I guess the chip must only work for humans.” He said it as if it was the greatest discovery in the world. And as far as he was concerned it was.

“So you can hurt demons?”

Spike smiled happily. “Apparently so.” Still giddy from his bout of violence Spike found himself wanting yet more action. Restless energy was suddenly pounding through him and with both enemies dispatched his thoughts were quick to turn to action of a different nature. Growling softly he pulled Buffy against him. His hands wandered over her body, stroking and kneading her skin.

“Wait a minute,” Buffy pulled away, trying not to show how affected she was by his touch. “So you can kill demons. But you still can’t hurt humans?”

Spike nodded quickly, more interested in nuzzling her neck then continuing the conversation. “Don’t worry love. No need to go back to pretending you’re trying to kill me any time soon.”

“Hey! I was trying to kill you.” She did her best to look offended but came off as teasing.

Spike smiled, amused by her half-hearted indignation. “Course you were love.”

Buffy suddenly pulled back to look him in the eyes. "You were willing to go through that pain to save me."

Spike shrugged nonchalantly.

Buffy smiled at his sudden reluctance to admit it. “Hey Spike?” she asked, running her hands down his chest. “I’ve heard rumours of a nest of vampires on Baker Street. Want to go indulge in a little gratuitous violence?”

When she waggled her eyebrows at him Spike growled in pleasure. Sliding his hands down over her arse he jerked her hard against him, grounding his hips against hers as he leaned forward to tug on her bottom lip with his teeth. “Lead the way love. Lead the way.”

**********

The moment Buffy got the door open she pulled Spike inside and slammed it behind them. Shoving him against it she pressed the length of her body against him. Need clawed at her insides and she raised one leg over his hip in an effort to get closer, whimpering when the hardness of the wooden door prevented her from wrapping it around his waist.

Spike walked her backward toward the staircase. “You sure your Mum won’t be home tonight?”

“Positive.” Buffy grinned wickedly as her fingers stole under his shirt to score his chest with sharp fingernails. “She’s not back till Tuesday.”

Pulling him back to her Buffy plundered the recesses of his mouth, wanting to taste every inch of him she could reach. Spike stumbled on a step and they both went down, landing sprawled on the steps with a grunt. They both laughed, but never slowed their frantic explorations of each others bodies. Buffy revelled at the feel of his weight on top of her, even as the edge of the steps dug into her back.

“I guess that just leaves one more question.” Spike said with a wry grin.

Buffy gasped as he lowered her shirt, baring one nipple which he laved with his tongue. “What’s that?”

“How much noise can we make before someone calls the cops?”

Laughing throatily Buffy simultaneously bit down hard on his neck and bucked up against his rigid arousal, enjoying his rather vocal response, before rasping in his ear, “Let’s find out.”