~*~

Epilogue:

Buffy snuggled closer to the fully sated vampire at her side. She had never enjoyed a punishment more in her life! The date had been even better than her imaginings and her speculations on Spike’s muscles were proved inadequate as well.

They had eaten fresh seafood at a lovely restaurant that was actually on the beach and followed that up by dancing at a trendy little club until Buffy thought she couldn’t dance anymore. Spike was a perfect partner in looks and movement.

Spike had looked at Buffy in awed wonder when he had picked her up. She had opted for a sleek, violet slip dress in clingy silk. The deep vee neckline showed a respectable amount of cleavage and the small amethyst necklace that nestled there drew Spike’s eyes right to her assets. She hadn’t taken time to dress this well since she had started dating Riley. For some reason, Finn liked more casual dates like picnics and sporting events. She hadn’t gone out of her way to be elegant in ages.

The look on Spike’s face when he had seen her had been worth the effort. He looked a perfect partner for her too. Gone were the black jeans and boots, replaced with a suit that could easily have been from the pages of GQ. He was still in black, of course, but the shirt was a deep, deep blue that made his eyes look even more blue than usual. Buffy felt she could swim in them forever.

On the dance floor, they had drawn the eye of every other person in the club. Not just because they danced together as if they had been doing so their entire lives, but they looked so completely right together. Every move was instinctively in sync as their smoothly fitting bodies touched and dipped and glided across the dance floor.

The DeSoto had gleamed and sparkled. Spike had even removed the shoe polish from the windows since they weren’t going to be driving in daylight anyway. The old car finally looked like the classic Spike had always claimed it was.

Buffy had been the one to suggest Spike come in for a cup of tea when he took her home and gave her that promised goodnight kiss. Her mom was still at the hospital and Dawn was staying over at Janice’s for the night. Buffy wondered if she was going to have to remind Spike that she had laughed at him in the Santa costume to urge him to punish her further as he had promised he would do.

Buffy hadn’t been too sure of how far she wanted this date to go when it started, but as the evening continued she only wondered why she had been so blind for so long. All her insistence that her greatest desire was for a vanilla life with a normal guy went out the window with the first soul-melting kiss on her front porch. It was as if a light had suddenly turned on and she could see at last.

Maybe it wasn’t fair to Riley to do comparisons, but there really weren’t any in the long run. Spike wasn’t Riley; he wasn’t Angel either. He wasn’t like any man she had ever been with. She knew there would be rough waters ahead as her friends and family all would try to weigh in with an opinion about the mistake she was making by choosing the sexy vampire at her side, but being with Spike would be worth the headache. He was her perfect match.

Spike was in a daze. He had hoped to manage a nice long snogging session at the end of the date. He hadn’t counted on the Slayer taking it further. It had been her soft hand that had undone his belt and lowered his zipper. Her warm grasp that fondled him into near climax as her mouth teased his with kisses even hotter than the ones he remembered. It was that same hand that took his and led him upstairs to her room and helped undress him as well.

As he lay in the dark, Buffy cuddled in his arms as he gently caressed her arm and pressed kisses in her hair he vowed that this would not be a one-time thing. He’d be the man she needed at her side and prove himself in any way she demanded. He would wipe away all the pain of her past experiences with men and replace the memories with ones of wonder and delight. He could hear her heart beating for both of them and knew that when her heart finally came to a stop, he would be dust.

For this honor, he would wear any silly costume the lady demanded, accept any trial, fulfill any request, even try to make friends with her gang of annoying twits. He would gladly play the lover’s fool in the court of his queen.

There was a new year looming and a new beginning for them both to look forward to.

~fin