Chapter Five

Raising the leather to her nose Buffy inhaled deeply. A sensual shiver rippled through her body as Spike’s unique smell enveloped her. She frowned at the coat. This was wrong. Spike was evil, a vampire with no soul. He killed to feed and he enjoyed it. His death was her duty. So why isn’t he dead, she wondered. She’d slain nearly every vampire she’d ever fought. But not Spike. They’d fought dozens of times, vowed over and over to bring about each other’s painful demise. Yet somehow neither had ever managed to deliver that killing blow. Now suddenly that violence was erupting in completely new and less...well, fighty ways. She knew they could never be together. Even if they wanted to. But as she thought back to the excitement and passion of the previous night, she wondered how she’d ever be able to stay away from him now.

A knock on the door dragged Buffy from her thoughts. Shoving the leather duster under her pillow, she answered it.

“Hey Buffy.” A slightly haggard Riley smiled at her.

“Riley,” Buffy replied, hoping she sounded happy to see him. “How are you feeling?”

Riley rubbed his ribs and grimaced, “I’ve been better, but I’ll be okay.”

Buffy bit her bottom lip as a fresh wave of guilt assailed her. Inviting him in she closed the door and reluctantly turned to face him. “I’m really sorry Riley. I never meant to hurt you like that.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Guess we’ll just have to be a bit less rough from now on.”

Buffy almost snorted as an image of her throwing Spike halfway across the room, before launching herself on top of him like a feral cat, flashed in her mind. She saw Riley looking at her with a tolerant smile and put on her best remorseful face. Oh he really has no idea what rough is.

She felt his arms slide around her waist but as he tried to pull her closer she backed away. “Riley we have to talk.”

Riley shrugged. “Okay.” He took a seat on Willow’s bed while Buffy sat herself primly on the edge of her own. She was dreading the coming conversation but after the events of the last few days she knew it was the right thing to do. Raising her eyes to meet his she caught his wary expression and decided to try and get this over with as quickly as possible.

“I’ve really enjoyed these last months with you Riley. You’re a great guy, really. But I don’t think this is working.” She swallowed heavily. “I don’t think we should see each other any more.”

For long moments Riley just stared at her with his mouth gulping like a fish. “Buffy,” he finally sputtered. “Why?”

Buffy sighed, unsure how to word this to spare his feelings. Somehow she figured, ‘You’re a bad lay’, wouldn’t be much of a self-esteem booster. “We just want different things.”

“Is this about last night?”

Buffy’s head snapped up. Last night? How the hell could he know what happened last night?

“Buffy I’ll be okay. It’s just some bruising.”

With relief Buffy realised he wasn’t talking about Spike, but their own little ‘mishap’. Then she realised what he’d said. “Bruising? Riley I broke three of your ribs,” she said incredulously.

“So?” Riley exclaimed. “We’ll just be more careful. More gentle.”

Buffy snapped. “I don’t want to be gentle Riley. I want fire and heat and lust. I want to be able to lose control occasionally without having to worry that I’ll cause grievous bodily harm to my boyfriend.”

“That’s what this is about? Sex.” The look he shot her made her feel like the shallowest woman on the face of the planet and she rose off the bed to escape his condemning stare.

“No. Well that’s part of it but…I’m sorry Riley. But I just can’t be with you anymore.”

When he was silent she hoped he’d gotten the message and that would be the end of it. But when she turned around she found him staring at her bed. Following his gaze she realised he’d spotted Spike’s duster under her pillow. Before she could react he’d grabbed it and was holding it up in a clenched fist.

“It’s Spike isn’t it. He’s done this to you.”

“No,” Buffy cried. “Spike has nothing to do with it. This is about you and me Riley. I’m sorry, but I don’t love you.”

“And you do love Spike is that it?”

“Riley you aren’t listening to me…” Her frustration was mounting as she realised he was still missing the point.

“He’s a vampire Buffy! What is wrong with you?”

“There is nothing wrong with me.”

“You just don’t want someone that actually loves you, do you. Admit it Buffy, you want a man that will throw you down and fuck you like a dirty whore!”

With a shocked gasp Buffy pulled back and punched Riley in the jaw. He cried out in pain as blood began to run from a cut in his lip.

For several seconds they stared at each other in shock. Then Riley began, “Buffy…”

“Get out.” She cut him off; no longer interested in anything he had to say. “Don’t ever come near me again.”

Riley looked down at the duster in his hands before he threw it at her feet in disgust. “I hope you’ll be happy with your filthy demon.”

As the door slammed shut behind him Buffy dropped down onto the bed. She trembled with anger, unable to believe Riley would say such horrible things to her. Reaching down she drew Spike’s duster onto her lap, staring at it as she pondered their dilemma. Riley was right about one thing, she thought bitterly. Spike is evil. She knew that tonight he would hunt, killing a human in order to gain sustenance. She had no choice but to stop him. Unable to stand thinking about it any longer Buffy tucked the duster carefully into her closet. Then, gathering her things, she set off for class.

**********

That night, just as the sun was setting, Buffy stood in the middle of Spike’s crypt. His duster clutched in one fist. Shock was plain on her face. “Spike?” For a moment she wondered if maybe she’d wandered into the wrong crypt by accident. But even as the thought entered her head she knew she was just grasping at straws.

The crypt was empty. Everything was gone. The comfortable bed, where she had experienced the most erotic night of her life, had been stripped bare. Only the frame remained. All his clothes had been cleared out. The fridge emptied of its extra blood bags. Suddenly the crypt seemed cold and alien to her.

Hurt tore at her insides as she crumpled to her knees. He’s gone.