*squishy hugs* to Sue and Niamh for the beta.

And thank you to everyone who has let me know what they’re thinking of this – the encouragement and positive comments have been tremendous for my confidence.



Chapter 9: Aphrodisiac.


Stepping over the unconscious watcher, the band of vampires quickly fanned out, each taking a separate corner of the shop to search for the required items. The search had to be completed quickly, there was no telling how long the watcher would be out cold for.

Drusilla had at first given the order to kill any and all people who got in the way of acquiring the needed bits and pieces, but had been convinced otherwise by her business partner.

“Killing the Slayer’s friends now will only make the success of this project difficult to accomplish.”

Several members of the gang had voiced their disagreement with the opinions of the relative newcomer, but when Dru had gouged out the eyes of the first vampire to object with a flick of her wrist, the rest had immediately acquiesced. Blunt force was permitted, feeding or killing any of the Slayer’s comrades was not.

The eldest of the group of young vampires had been entrusted with the task of collecting the required texts; ‘Dirkowitz’s Compendium of the Dark Arts’ and the ‘Lazaurian book of Spellcasting’, whilst another was collecting the specific elements for the spell.

“Anyone know what wolfsbane looks like?” a female vampire questioned as she lifted jar after jar from the shelf behind the cash register, examining each label before returning it to its place.

“Keep it down,” another hissed. “If the old man wakes and hears what you’re saying, the boss ain’t gonna be happy.”

Suitably chastised, the female continued her search, a delighted “ah ha!” sounding when she found the last essential ingredient. “All clear.”

“Let’s get outta here,” the vamp with the books suggested as he dropped from the mezzanine above the shop and landed in the middle of the room with a quiet thud.

Slipping their goods into a sack the band of thieves left the shop, the last to exit closing the door quietly behind him.

~~~

Buffy rested her head on Spike’s chest, enjoying the feel of his powerful arms around her. The vampire’s lean form belied the hidden strength within, if he chose to do so he could crush her with enough force to break bones. Yet he held her with the care of someone handling delicate china. Spike managed to make her feel precious and protected, and at the same time his exact equal. Unlike Angel, who towered over her, Spike was perfectly suited to her height, allowing her to be girly without feeling like she was being smothered.

Snaking her arms up his toned pectorals to wrap around his neck, Buffy pulled Spike’s face down towards hers, firmly pressing her lips against his in a demanding kiss.

What could only be described as a purr of contentment rumbled within Spike’s chest, the vampire immediately responding to his girlfriend’s affections by returning and deepening the kiss. Unlike many of their embraces, the fight for dominance was not present, the usual dueling of tongues with each seeking control being replaced with a languid exploration.

They tasted each other’s mouth and lips with a relaxation bordering on lethargy.

Each roll of Spike’s tongue was slow and deliberate, every nip and nibble calculated. If asked, Spike would answer honestly that the desire to fully express his feelings for Buffy carnally was undoubtedly mounting and at times hard to dampen. Now was not one of those times, he was just enjoying the moment.

It was kisses like this one that forced Buffy to evaluate her feelings for Spike and wake up to the fact she was indeed falling for the vampire. The passion, and near desperation for more regular make-out sessions could almost be chalked up as a response to the growing sexual tension between the pair. But when they were like this, there was no denying the feelings involved.

Buffy reluctantly broke the kiss when the call of nature became too much to bear. With a satiated sigh she extricated herself from the Spike’s embrace. “I’ll be back in a few,” she promised. “Have to go to the little Slayer’s room.”

With a hesitant nod Spike watched Buffy weave her way through the crowd towards the bathroom, once more wondering how it was that lady luck delivered the woman of his dreams right to his doorstep.

~~~

The retrieval team of vampires returned to the lair with their goods, walking into the factory exuding confidence. Carefully placing the sack containing the night’s haul on the long wooden dining table in the center of the room, the vampires returned to their respective corners of the building.

“We got everything you asked for, boss,” the packhorse of the group informed.

It was as if Drusilla hadn’t even noticed their return, the vampiress continued to entertain herself by spinning around and around in a circle, arms thrown outwards and head tipped towards the ceiling as she spun. Whether she achieved the suitable amount of dizziness she was after, or had simply become bored of her game, she slowly stopped with the world seemingly spinning off its axis as she fought to focus her vision on the tilting walls of her lair.

A musical laugh escaped her lips before she began singing to herself. “Spin, spin, round and round, watch the sky tip to the ground.”

Most of the demons were somewhat used to Drusilla’s quirks after having spent the better part of two weeks traveling up the coast, the few who were still adjusting to their boss’s idiosyncrasies wisely keeping their mouths shut.

“My boys have brought me some presents,” Drusilla announced, forgetting or not caring that two of the six vamp team had been female when she finally spotted the dark sack sitting on her table. With a gleeful clapping of her hands the dark haired seer approached the bag, removing the items one by one and placing them on the wooden surface.

With a malevolent smile Drusilla turned to her second in command. “It’s time for my party to begin.”

~~~

First came the throbbing pain at the back of his head, followed quickly by the nagging ache in his left hip. It would seem Giles had been knocked unconscious, again. With a groan mixed of pain and annoyance he lifted himself to his feet, gently touching his head and grimacing at the warm sticky substance that found his fingers.

And I’m bleeding as well, brilliant…

Slowly making his way to his office, Giles retrieved the first aid kit so he could treat his wound. Judging by touch the cut was small and not too deep, something he was thankful for. The last thing he needed right now was to have to make a visit to Sunnydale Memorial for stitches.

Wincing at the sting the antiseptic brought as he dabbed the wound with a ball of cotton wool, Giles reached for the telephone.

He didn’t know whom or what had attacked him, nor why they had, but Giles was certain this wasn’t a random occurrence. Having been on the receiving end of a beating many times before, thanks to his status as watcher, left Giles believing there was a very specific reason why he had been jumped at the shop this evening.

Dialing the number for Buffy’s cell phone, Giles waited patiently as it rang. When it diverted to voice mail he disconnected the call to focus on treating his wound.

~~~

Shaking the excess water from her hands, Buffy wiped them on a towel then opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out into the hall, intent on returning immediately to Spike’s side. What she hadn’t expected was to see the not so favourable face of a person from her past.

“Buffy Summers, is that you?” Parker Abrams questioned, his eyes giving her a head to toe evaluation. “It’s been a while.”

“Not long enough,” Buffy stated as she turned to leave.

Parker grabbed hold of her arm to stop her. “Buffy, wait,” he beseeched. “Can’t you give an old friend a few minutes of your time?”

Buffy sighed with exasperation. “Friends isn’t exactly how I’d describe us, Parker,” she replied sarcastically.

“No, that’s right, we were much closer than just friends,” he leered. Leaning up against the wall beside him, a self-assured smile settled on his face. “You know, Buffy, I look back on our time and wonder why it is we didn’t work out. We were certainly…” he leered again, “compatible.”

“Maybe because you were a jerk and I was on the rebound,” Buffy tartly responded.

“Ouch, that burns.” A puppy dog smile replaced the cockiness of moments earlier. “Come on… it wasn’t all that bad, now was it?”

“Actually, yes, it really was.”

Turning on her heel Buffy once more tried to make her escape, only to find Parker’s lecherous hand grasping her forearm again. “Parker, take your hands off me.”

“Come on, Summers, live a little. You might find you actually like --”

The rest of the words never made it out of Parker’s mouth, effectively cut off by a fist connecting with his jaw. The brunette sleaze hit the floor like a tonne of bricks as the owner of the fist yelped in pain.

Buffy reached for Spike who was clutching his head between his hands, the chip having fired off a series of painful shocks the second his fist connected with the guy’s face. “Spike, why did --”

“Why do you think, love?” Spike asked with a groan, massaging his temples with one hand while the other wrapped firmly around Buffy’s waist. “No one speaks to my girl like that.”

The possessive tone in Spike’s voice was as clear as day, and Buffy couldn’t fight back the smile that stretched across her face. Spike’s jealousy was blatantly obvious, but she knew it stemmed from his desire to protect her. In his efforts to gallantly stand up for his girl, he’d caused himself almost as much pain as he had given to Parker—who’d scurried off just as soon as he’d picked himself up from the floor.

“I know I should probably be telling you off right now,” Buffy began, a mischievous smile stretching across her face, “but seeing you drop Parker like that was the hottest thing I’ve seen all night.”

His own lecherous smile appearing, Spike fished for more compliments. “Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Buffy nodded. “That guy was a jerk.” A memory surfaced in her mind causing her smile to fade to a pout. “In fact, you’ve mocked me about him before.”

Spike frowned. “I have?”

Buffy nodded again. “Yup. If I remember correctly you used the words ‘have a poke’ and ‘dimpled knees’ in the one sentence.”

It took a moment but when Spike realized what she was talking about his expression darkened. “That was him?” he demanded. His eyes immediately began scanning the room for the sleazebag.

Buffy could see the intent to cause more pain in Spike’s eyes, also knowing it would cause just as much to Spike himself if he followed through. “Easy, big boy, he’s gone.”

“If I find that sod I’ll --”

“Did I ever tell you this protecto-guy thing you’ve got going is hot?” Buffy asked as she ran her hands up and down his chest, repeating her sentiments from earlier again.

A smile crept across Spike’s face, Buffy’s plan to distract him working better than he’d like to admit. “Maybe, but you can say it again.”

But before she could Spike’s lips swooped to claim Buffy’s in a searing kiss with the promise of more passion than was publicly decent.

~~~

Drusilla clapped her hands together with glee before they snaked high up into the air, her hips thrusting out from side to side as the preparations began. The air within the factory was charged with a magical energy, the imminent release of that magic causing thrills to rush up and down Drusilla’s spine.

“Soon my Dark Prince will be return to Mummy and Sunshine will be no more,” she laughed.

Dru was getting her family back together again. While Darla was locked in a cage at the Hyperion, and Angelus restrained by the gypsy curse, her elders were together. Once Dru had a willing Spike at her side, the pair would return to LA to free the other two and rid them both of their unwanted baggage. Finally, the family would be whole once more.

At first Dru had been unconvinced this plan would work, thinking there must be a better way to command her former lover to return to the fold and her bed. However the promise of not only regaining her mate, but also the opportunity to break the Slayer, had been the extra incentive she had needed. For far too long the blonde had interfered with her family. This solution promised the do-gooder slayer would hold the power over the males of the Aurelius line no more.

“The stars are singing to me, promises of darkness and shadows and death.” Eyes flashing with barely contained excitement, Drusilla made her way to the side of the spellcaster. “Sunshine will lose her spark.”

With a malicious smile the chaos-worshipping warlock reached for the final ingredient to be added to the brew bubbling away in the small cauldron before him.

“Ripper, old mate, here’s to your Slayer.” Toasting to ceiling, Ethan Rayne poured the contents of the beaker into the boiling concoction. “May she rot to pieces.”



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A/N: Hope you like! Feedback is loved, so if you have any thoughts on this chapter, share them!