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CHAPTER 10: Phone calls and photo shoot




If someone needed an example to describe the word bliss, this was it. An early morning moment when time seemed to have stilled just so two lovers could lie down and rest after finding each other for the first time.

A slight breeze was blowing through the open window, caressing naked skin, and making the light curtains billow softly to a silent beat. The curtains kept the sun safely outside the room, but let enough light filter through to cast a golden glow on everything.

Still lost in this place between awareness and dream, Buffy felt completely at peace for the first time in a lifetime. Eyes still closed, she let herself enjoy the moment, hoping against all hope that it would last. This thought brought on the familiar fear of having her heart broken, but she quickly pushed it aside, instead deciding to concentrate on the feel of Spike’s cool skin beneath her cheek. What mattered was that she was happy now. She could worry about later… later.

The vampire was deeply asleep, his face relaxed and sated after an entire day and night of alternating between tender lovemaking and hard, fast, passionate, sex. They’d barely stopped to eat and take a shower. And of course, the purpose of the shower had nothing to do with getting clean. Buffy’s body felt happily sore, her muscles relaxed and her limbs heavy. Definitely the good kind of soreness. A sappy smile stretched her lips when the strong arms around her tightened slightly and Spike let out a contended sigh.

An exotic island, a warm fragrant morning, a sexy naked vampire… That was enough to make a Slayer never want to go back home. Not that home would let her forget about it though. The phone rang shrilly, effectively shattering the peaceful silence. It was accompanied by a loud “Bloody hell!”.

Spike swiftly wrapped himself around Buffy to prevent her from answering. He rolled them to the side and with one hand, pulled the blankets over their heads.

Buffy giggled and tried pushing away from him so she could escape the circle of his arms and answer the phone.

“Spike, I have to answer…”

“No you don’t.” He mumbled sleepily, his face hidden in her hair.

“Come on, let go of me.”

He stubbornly tightened his grip on her.

“Not bloody likely.”

“All right, you asked for it.”

Using her new intimate knowledge of his body, she slid a hand up his side until she reached his ribs, and ghosted a finger over the ticklish skin.

Spike yelped and let go of her instantly.

Buffy giggled at the expected reaction and picked up the phone.

“Evil bint.” Spike mumbled, turning to lie on his back, an arm thrown casually over his eyes.

“Hello?” Buffy said into the receiver, wondering who the hell was calling at 9 in the morning.

“Aren’t you supposed to say ‘Aloha’ now?”

“Xander!”

Spike lifted his arm to give Buffy an incredulous look.

“The Whelp?” He mouthed. “You ruined the moment to talk to the Whelp?! Bloody buggering hell…”

Buffy covered the mouth piece with her hand. “Stop whining. Could be important.”

“Yeah, Sunnydale might have run out of doughnuts.”

Buffy rolled her eyes.

“What’s up, Xand? I’m telling you now, if it’s an apocalypse, you’re on your own. There is no way I’m cutting my vacation short, buddy.”

“Nope. Nothing end of the world-y. Just checking on my favorite Buffster. Making sure you’re having fun.”

“Thanks for checking up on me, Xand…”

Spike gave her an ‘I told you so’ look.

“…everything is great. We’re having an amazing time.”

“How’s Hawaii? Is it as pretty as they say it is? Did you do anything fun? Taken any excursions or anything?”

Somehow ‘I had lots of sex with Spike’ didn’t sound like the kind of conversation she really wanted to have with Xander at the moment. But since she hadn’t done anything else so far, she said the only thing that she knew would get Xander’s mind off her activities since she arrived in Hawaii.

“Spike won a Karaoke contest.”

The vampire sat up abruptly. “Oi! You promised not to tell anyone!”

“…huh…Oops?”

Buffy had to get the phone away from her ear when a roar of laughter echoed through the receiver.

Spike sat against the headboard, arms crossed over his chest sulkily. “Just fantastic. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

She kissed his shoulder and whispered: “Sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

“You better.”

Buffy put the phone back to her ear. For a moment, she was tempted to just hang up on her friend and focus her attention on the naked vampire. His skin was just begging to be licked. But instead, she gathered all the self-control she could find and looked away from Spike.

“Xander!! Cut it out. It’s not funny.”

She waited a few more seconds for her friend to stop laughing.

“Are you done now?”

“Y-yeah.” He hiccupped.

“Anyway. He won dinner for two at a fancy restaurant in town and an excursion on the volcano. Should be fun.”

“Cool. But don’t you have to do this excursion during the day? You’ll go without him, right?”

“No.” She said, her voice a little colder. “I won’t go without him, Xander. He never had a problem getting around Sunnydale during daytime; I don’t see why it would be a problem now. I’ll park the Jeep near our room and Spike will take a blanket. We’ll leave late in the afternoon so we have time to make it to the top to watch the sunset, then we’ll come back. We were supposed to have a guide with us, but we already told them that all we want is the Jeep and a map with directions to the most interesting sights. Should be fun. And we made the reservations at the restaurant for tonight. It’s supposed to be the best on the island. I can’t wait.”

“So, I take it you and Spike are getting along?”

“Absolutely. Why wouldn’t we? We get along at home, don’t we?”

Spike scooted down on the bed next to her. He threw an arm across her hips and rested his cheek on her stomach, making himself comfortable to wait for Buffy to finish her phone conversation. She looked down and smiled at his blonde head, suddenly losing interest in what Xander had to say.

“Maybe recently, but it wasn’t always like that.” Xander whined. “I kinda miss the good ol’ times when you and I would team up to make fun of Spike.” He sighed dramatically. “Good times.”

“Well I don’t miss it. I like things the way they are now.”

“Relax, Buff, I was joking. It’s me, Xander… remember? That’s what I do. I joke. If you’re having fun with Mr. Clairol, good for you. I just want you to have a memorable vacation.”

Buffy smiled. “Oh believe me, it will be.”

“Make sure you take lots of pictures to share with your poor friends who are unfortunate enough to be stuck on the Hellmouth, OK?”

Buffy looked at the camera sitting on the dresser and grinned. “Sure thing, Xand.”

“All right. Gotta go. Anya is trying to tell me with sign language just how much of her precious money I’m spending on this long distance call. Say hello to the Karaoke King for me, and tell him his secret is safe with me… NOT.” He chuckled like a hyena.

Buffy shook her head. “Bye Xander.”

She hung up. Spike tried to pull her into his arms, but she evaded his embrace and jumped out of bed, pulling the sheet along with her. Truth be told, she felt comfortable enough walking around naked in Spike’s company, but it was just so much more pleasant to see him laying there in all his naked glory instead.

“Hey!” The naked vampire protested loudly. “What’s that all about now? Where do you think you‘re going, Slayer?”

“Don‘t be a baby, I‘m right here.”

Buffy smirked, but Spike couldn’t see the mischievous glint in her eyes since she was facing away from him. She walked up to the dresser and picked up something, her back still on him. Spike sat up straighter, curious to see what she was doing.

“What are you up to, pet?”

She turned to face him, her hands behind her back to hide what she was holding, and made her way back to the bed.

“Xander had a request and since I’m a good friend and don’t want to disappoint him, then I guess I’ll just have to grant his request.”

Spike eyed her suspiciously. “And what would that request be exactly?”

She pulled out the camera from behind her back. “He said to take as many pictures of our trip as possible so he could live the Aloha experience through them. I think I’m gonna show him what exactly the Aloha experience is.”

And before Spike could do or say anything to protest, Buffy had jumped up on the bed. Standing above him, white cotton sheet wrapped securely around her chest, she put the camera to her eye and snapped a shot of naked Spike.

“Bloody hell, woman! Gimme that!”

The next shot was one of Spike growling menacingly and reaching for the camera. Buffy giggled madly and avoided him just in time. Ducking and diving, she ended up behind him and snapped another shot, of his naked ass this time. She laughed even harder at the look on his face.

Spike attacked swiftly, using her distraction to his advantage. He pinned her to the mattress and managed to take possession of both the camera and the bed sheet she was using to cover herself. Buffy opened her mouth to protest, only to be interrupted in her attempt by the flash of the camera.

“Two can play this game, Slayer.” Spike grinned, obviously proud of his own cleverness.

They ended up wrestling together, the room filled with laughter and Buffy’s high pitch squeals as Spike tickled her mercilessly. They calmed down after a while, a mess of tangled limbs and wild hair. The bedding and pillows were on the floor, and they were happier than they‘d ever been. They kissed passionately. Buffy got a hold of the abandoned camera and took a picture at arms length.

Spike laughed against her lips. “Minx.”

She smiled and kissed his nose.

Spike turned on his back and pulled her against his chest. He took the camera out of her hands and she didn’t fight him this time. Holding it away from them, he snapped a shot of himself holding his girl. Then another one making a funny face.

Buffy pouted. “You made a face, you ruined the picture.”

“Did I now? How about this one?.. A special, just for the Whelp.”

His face morphed into his demon, golden eyes, fangs and bumpies, and he lowered his sharp teeth to Buffy’s throat, pretending to bite her. He growled exaggeratedly, making Buffy crack up, and took a picture.

Still laughing, Buffy slapped his arm playfully. “You moron, where am I going to get those pictures developed now?”

“They’ll think it’s Halloween pictures. A very kinky Halloween.”

Spike was still in game face, grinning at her, and she shivered. But they were good shivers. The kind that start in your lower belly and spread through your entire body.

Spike had never tried to shield her from this side of him, never hid his vampire face from her the way Angel used to, but if he was in game face, it was usually justified by the situation. Battle, anger, fear for her well being, but never before had he just sat there, looking at her through his demon eyes. He looked almost vulnerable. He could not bare himself more completely than this, naked and in game face, and Buffy knew it took courage to show the person you love exactly who you are despite the risk of being rejected. Risk of seeing fear in her eyes, or disgust. Risk of discovering that her affection was reserved only for one half of who he was.

She gave him the acceptance he needed by reaching up to caress the side of his face. She leaned closer to him and pressed her lips to his, kissing him softly, pouring all her love into the act. Spike returned the kiss, careful not to cut her with his fangs.

Buffy’s heart started beating faster, but not in fear. Even the Slayer in her knew she had nothing to fear from this vampire. Her heart beat faster because for a moment there, the kiss wasn’t enough and she found herself craving something that should have been unnatural and somewhat frightening. For a moment, the image of Spike’s fangs piercing the skin of her throat flashed through her mind, and she wasn’t horrified by it the way she should have been.

She broke the kiss and smiled at him, trying her best to hide her discomfort.

“Everything all right, luv?” Spike asked, his face returning to his human disguise.

“Everything is perfect.” She smiled while pushing the unsettling thoughts to the back of her head to be examined at a later time.

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Stretched out comfortably on the couch, Carlita popped a chocolate covered macadamia nut in her mouth while waiting for someone to answer on the other end of the line. After the sixth ring, she sighed exasperatedly and was about to hang up, when there was a mumbled “Hello” on the other end of the line.

“Well hello there, Mr. Travers. I was starting to think you would not answer.”

“Carlita, my dear. Always a pleasure hearing your voice, even at 2 in the bloody morning.”

She glanced briefly at the clock on the wall and saw that it was four in the afternoon already, therefore, ten hours later in England. She shrugged, not caring too much.

“There, there, Quentin. Being sarcastic so isn’t attractive in a man. I do apologize for calling this late, but you’re the one who told me this problem with Buffy Summers was your number one priority. I simply assumed that if it was so important, you wouldn’t mind me disturbing your sleep. Was I wrong in assuming so?”

A few thousand miles from Hawaii, the head of the Watchers Council took a deep calming breath. He turned the light on and sat up in his bed. “Of course not. Are there any new developments? Ben called earlier this afternoon, but his call was cryptic at best. To be frank, I do not believe he understood the point of this vacation.”

“That’s exactly why I called, dear Quentin. I wanted to confirm with you that I understood what you wanted. My understanding of the situation is that Miss Summers is to be… prematurely ‘retired’, no matter what. Am I correct?”

“Isn’t it what we discussed before you left?”

“Yes, of course. But Ben is starting to become a problem, so I wanted to make sure I have the green light from you in case he tries opposing me. After he called you earlier, he told me you needed more proof of Buffy’s relationship with the vampire. Was I wrong to conclude that this was a lie?”

“I never said such a thing. Miss Summers’ relationship with William the Bloody is of no interest to me. It is only one in a long list of grievance I have against her. She’s proven again and again that she is unfit to be the Slayer. Her relationships with demons are just final proof of this, nothing more.”

“In this case, I’ll go into town right now and get what I need to take care of the problem. Surely you don’t mind if I use a more unconventional approach, do you? Somehow, in a one on one fight, I think the odds would be against me.”

“Whatever needs to be done. Carlita, I chose you for this unpleasant task because you are a dear friend and I know I can trust you…”

“…and I have no moral issues doing what you asked me to do.” She finished for him.

“Correct.” The smile could be heard in his voice. “So you do whatever you have to do in order to put an end to Buffy Summers reign as the Slayer. She‘s caused enough trouble. Once she’s out of the way, the only thing left to do will be to deal with Faith so another Slayer can be called. Hopefully not as troublesome at her two predecessors.”

“By tomorrow night, you’ll be rid of both Buffy Anne Summers and William the Bloody. It will look like an unfortunate accident.”

“I’d lie if I’d say I’m not liking the sound of that.” Quentin Travers said smugly. “And if Ben gets in your way, act without him.”

“That’s what I needed to hear.”

“I… assume I can count on your discretion, Carlita? The council can never know of this affair.”

“Well of course.” She huffed, slightly insulted. “Haven’t you purposefully avoided using the Council’s goons to make sure of this? You know you can trust me. No one will ever be the wiser, I guarantee you. Now darrrling, I’m going to let you go back to sleep, and I will go take care of business.”

“Thank you. Ring me when it’s done.”

“I will. Good night, Quentin.”

Carlita hung up the phone and put some more nuts in her mouth and chewed mindlessly, lost in thought. God, Travers was such a dirty little rat. She smiled and shook her head, popping more of the sugary nuts in her mouth. Oh well.

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A/N: I'd like to thank those of you who have been reviewing this story. I enjoy reading your comments a lot. And if you read and don't review, please don't be shy. Take a minute and let me know how you feel about the story. I don't bite... much lol Seriously, it's the only way for me to find out if I'm doing a good job or not. :)