AN: Thanks to everyone who's been following this series. Here we are at the final chapter of the last story. It's been a long trip and a bit of departure for me to write so off-canon, such an OOC (to canon) Buffy and to have the amount of violence and character deaths that were in the first story. But here we are at last with the happy Spuffy ending - so it isn't that different anymore.:)
Mega thanks to my faithful beta, Always_jbj without whom these wouldn't be nearly as clean and they would probably all be without titles (other than "sequel to..." lol) besides. *hugs beta*

Chapter Sixteen

It took Spike only a short time to cause Buffy to completely forget what they’d been arguing about as she arched her back and almost forced her own head underwater. Her fingers curled around the rim of the tub, as she lay there, helpless to do anything but whimper and gasp. When he emerged from the water and took a quick glance at her twisted face, he began to suck in earnest, reveling in the way her legs wrapped around his head as she shamelessly urged him on. “Oh, god, yes, Spike. Yes, yes. Let me…please…Ahhhh!”

While she drifted bonelessly, her hands still resting on the sturdy porcelain of the tub’s rim, he sat up and slid closer, meeting with no resistance when he pulled her into his lap. Once again, her legs went around him, this time clutching his body to hers as she settled herself onto his thick length. Matching sighs of relief and contentment brought smiles to their faces, and they rested briefly, foreheads pressed together.

“I love you, you know.” Buffy’s voice was soft, her breath warm on his face.

“I know you do, sweetheart. I don’t doubt it. I’m sorry it sounded like I wanted to go away. I don’t, you know. Never want to leave you. I was just afraid—“

“You were afraid the whole ‘claimed by a vampire thing’ was too weird. I get that. I do, really.”

“It will be a bit hard to explain to your mum.”

“What if we put it in a way that she could understand?” She raised her head just enough to meet his gaze for a second, then glanced away, embarrassed.

“An’ what way would that be, my love?” he whispered, his cock twitching inside her just enough to elicit a retaliatory squeeze that made him groan.

“What if…what if we just got married? I mean, like really married. Like we were regular people—“

“All legal and whatnot?”

“Yes. I mean, I guess a church is kinda out of the question, but—“

“Are you asking me to marry you, Slayer?” The quirk of his eyebrow and the slight chuckle in his voice were belied by the slight tightening of his arms and warmth of his eyes.
“I…I guess so. I mean…I guess I shouldn’t…but it would…” Her voice trailed off, as there was no answer forthcoming from the very still vampire upon whom she was sitting so intimately. She had just begun to squirm with embarrassed disappointment when he tipped her chin up with one hand.

“Miss Summers,” he said very formally, “will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” He watched her expression go from disappointment to joy before adding, “Say ‘yes’, pet, and make me the happiest man in the world.”

“Yes, Mr. Carlisle. I would love to marry you.” she responded softly and equally as formally.

They kissed solemnly; then broke into happy smiles, almost forgetting for a moment what they’d been about.

“Think your mum is going to be happy about her daughter gettin’ married at such a young age?” he teased. “An’ to such an old man?”

“A whole lot happier than she would have been to know that you’ve been drinking my blood and that we’re bound together forever in some kind of weird vampire thingie,” she responded, rolling her eyes.

While he tried to compose a suitably snarky comeback to her easy dismissal of a solemn vampire ritual, she began to squeeze him using only her internal muscles as she remained otherwise immobile. Before long he was murmuring his eternal love and devotion, his voice becoming hoarser and deeper as she gradually milked him into a shuddering release that left him resting his head against her neck and licking his marks, his purrs reverberating through both their bodies.

Before Buffy knew it, she was responding to the steady vibrations coming from the vampire and fighting the urge to begin moving against him. As though reading her mind, he put both hands upon her hips and held her firmly in place while his steady purring sent her into a prolonged and powerful orgasm; one in which he quickly joined her when she clenched around him.

They clung together, each too sated and relaxed to do anything but lean on the other and wait for the strength to climb out of the rapidly cooling bath water. With a resigned groan, Buffy eventually succumbed to the chill creeping over her body and untangled herself from the equally reluctant vampire. She stood up and climbed out, quickly ducking into the separate shower stall to wash the bath water out of her hair with comfortably hot water. She had just poured shampoo onto her head, when she felt Spike slip into the glass booth behind her. Without comment, he began to massage her head, spreading the suds and removing any trace of bath oil from her hair. She silently handed him the conditioner, quickly rinsing the shampoo out and enjoying the pampering that the vampire seemed determined to indulge in at every opportunity.

Buffy quickly returned the favor, helping Spike wash the bath water out of his own unruly curls and then handing him a towel from the stack waiting for them outside the shower. The fact that they were able to rub each other dry without being sidetracked into another love-making session on the cold floor tiles was a testament to how thoroughly sated they both were.

Once they had slid into the large bed and snuggled together under the fluffy quilt, Buffy felt herself quickly slipping off to sleep. She peered up at her mate, but he appeared to be wide awake and concentrating.

“Penny for your thoughts?” she mumbled against his chest, not quite curious enough to keep her eyes open for the answer.

“Jus’ makin’ my to-do list for tomorrow, love,” he answered softly. “You can go to sleep.”

“What to-do list? We took care of the bad guy; there isn’t any more to-do stuff.”

“Got to transfer this house to your name so we don’t have any more unexpected visitors, got to get some more cash so you can go grocery shopping, got to set up a regular blood delivery so you don’t have to worry about it, got to help Doyle find a place of his own so we don’t have to worry about what he can and can’t hear, got to ask your mother for your hand…”

“I think you’d better talk to my mom before you get carried away with all that other stuff,” she yawned. “You need to put that at the top of your list.”

“I can make it number two, pet; but I’ve already got one at the top of my list. First thing tomorrow, I’m going to make love to my mate again. That’s gonna be my first thing to do every day from now on.”

“’k, I can live with getting Mom’s permission at number two…”

Her voice trailed off as she let sleep take her, confident that she would wake up safely held in her undead mate’s powerful arms. Neither vampire nor slayer had any idea that the Powers That Be were well aware of the long-term effects of a mutual claim between a vampire and a slayer. The knowledge of what effect it would have on Buffy’s longevity, not to mention the mystical effects on Spike’s long-dead sperm, were still ahead of them. All they knew for sure as they allowed proximity to lull them to sleep was that they had vanquished an evil foe and earned the right to rest.

The End