CHAPTER 13: Hot tub, bubbles and fantasies

Carlita was sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room part of the suite. Her legs were folded to the side, her skirt covering her up in a dignified way. Everything she did had to be proper, it didn't take Ben too much time to realize that. But he also knew that beneath all the ladylike mannerisms, she was nothing but trash.

He'd been raised in high society, his family was wealthy. From generation to generation, the family fortune had been passed on. His cousin and he had attended the best, most exclusive private school in England, and since being part of the Council was a family thing, would move on to an even more select school where they'd learn to be watchers. So yes, he had experience smelling rude, ignorant people from a mile away, no matter how much money and manners they were hiding under. Carlita was just that: an ignorant twit decked in expensive, designer clothes who used affected words. God did he ever hate the woman. He had to constantly remind himself that it was only for a few more days, and then he'd be rid of her. He promised himself he'd do everything he could to never see that woman again. Might be hard considering she was a family friend and his uncle was so fond of her, but he'd try.

“I see you’ve been busy.” He finally commented casually, trying to hide the disdain in his voice.

Carlita looked up from the articles she’d been sorting through. There was a small empty box abandoned to the side and items laid out in front of her. She had a pair of reading glasses resting on the tip of her nose, the heavy black frame making her features look even harder. Without a word, she started collecting everything and placing it back in the box. She then stood up and took time to smooth her skirt down before facing him, her usual fake smile firmly in place.

“Nothing you should concern yourself with.” P> He frowned, his thick dark brows drawing together. “I see.”

Ben walked up to the wet bar and poured himself a drink. His back still to Carlita, he spoke up again.

“Does this have anything to do with the Slayer and her vampire?”

“Whatever would make you think that?”

Her overly cheery voice was grating on his last nerve.

“Oh I don’t know, maybe the fact that it’s all you’ve been concerned with since we got here, and suddenly, you stopped talking about it altogether. This would be quite enough to have me worried. Whatever you’ve been up to, I’d appreciate it if you’d fill me in. We’re in this together in case you conveniently forgot.”

He turned to face her, an angry scowl on his face. But it apparently didn’t faze her in the least.

“Not anymore, Benjamin, dear.”

“Says who, if I might ask?”

“Quentin.”

Ben almost choked on his drink. He coughed to get the liquid out of his now burning lungs and took a deep breath.

"Rubbish. My uncle sent me here with you; I don't see why he would change his mind so radically as to..."

"My poor boy. You don't get it, do you?" The tone of her voice was insulting in its sweetness. She was obviously mocking him by talking to him like he was a small child.

She approached him with a cold smile on her thin lips and reached up to touch his cheek, trying her very best to make him feel pathetic. It worked. Benjamin flinched away from her touch and she chuckled.

"What the bloody hell do you mean; I'm not part of this anymore?"

She shrugged indifferently and turned away from him. She picked up a crystal glass and admired it for a moment before pouring herself a glass of red wine. Still not facing him, Carlita sighed.

“Quentin and I had a little talk last night. He finds you too... reluctant to do what needs to be done. And he was not pleased that you lied to me, mio caro.”

“I did not lie.”

She sharply turned around and pinned him with a malevolent look. “Do not, I repeat, do NOT mistake me for one of your little--how do you Brits call these females--trollops? I’m not one of your pathetic little trollops back in London. I could make your life so miserable that you’d beg me to kill you. Never lie to me again. You can’t fool me darling. I can sense deceit and lies from a mile away.” Her eyes still terrifyingly cold, she managed a smile. “On this not so friendly note, let’s get back on topic, shall we? I’m following orders, Ben, and you lied to try to stall my progress. Quentin was furious and gave me permission to act without you if I deemed it necessary. And I do.”

“You bloody cow! You’re going to kill an innocent girl.”

“Santa Madonna, do you even listen to the things that come out of your mouth? Innocent girl? How ridiculous! If she’s innocent, then I am a saint.”

Benjamin was getting frantic. He paced the length of the room, desperately trying to come up with an argument that would soften Carlita’s stance on the Buffy Summers case.

“This young woman goes out every night, risking her life for the sake of the world. Don’t you think she deserves a chance? Contrarily to Faith, she does what she’s supposed to do, saving innocent people despite the risks to herself. I’m sorry if I’m not more eager to end her life, Carlita. I’m not like you. I’m not...”

She cocked an eyebrow in question. “You’re not... what?”

“Dead inside. Incapable of any human feelings.”

“Oh you delightful little hypocrite.” She winked at him before sitting down in a plush armchair and taking a sip of her wine.

Ben spluttered indignantly. “Beg your pardon?”

“If I recall, you were positively horrified at the notion that she was sleeping with a demon. You were happy beyond words when your uncle announced that she would be away from her family and friends for a week, making it all the easier to disguise the kill as an accident. You were the first one at the jet.”

He looked away from her in shame, staring out the window. “I was eager to please my uncle. He scarcely sends me on missions, especially not one as important as this. I was glad he trusted me. And I did believe the slayer defiling herself with a demon was sickening.”

The Italian woman chuckled. “And your views on the subject changed when you came face to face with Buffy Summers’ obvious charms. How very convenient.”

“I know what you’re implying,” he said through clenched teeth; anger simmering in his dark eyes. “and, it has nothing to do with my attraction to her. She’s good at what she does and the world might need her. And as far as the vampire goes, I haven’t changed my mind. I still find the idea disgusting...”

“As a woman, I beg to differ.” She laughed at the look on his pinched face. “Oh come on, don’t be such a prude.”

“As I was saying, having a relationship with a vampire is immoral and I can’t condone it, but that doesn’t mean Buffy needs to die.”

Carlita swiftly stood up and took the few steps that separated her to where Benjamin was sitting in another armchair. She braced herself on the armrests and leaned forward until she was eye to eye with him, her face dangerously close.

“And as I was saying, you don’t get it. Quentin couldn’t care less about the vampire. He’s merely a nuisance in the way that he follows her everywhere. The true reason Quentin wants to be rid of her is because she’s been a constant pain in his behind since the day she was called as the Slayer. Fighting him and the Council’s authority every step of the way. He wants things back the way they’re supposed to be. Sweet, obedient little puppet Slayer controlled by her watcher who in turn, is controlled by the council. Buffy Summers brought chaos to this perfect little arrangement and he’s sick of it. The Council is useless without the Slayer and her watcher under their thumb. He decided it’s time to end it. Whether you agree or not. And Ben?

She waited until he looked back up before continuing on with what she was about to say.

“The only reason you’re here is because your uncle wanted to get you as far away from him as possible. So don’t fool yourself thinking you’re actually needed.”

The young man pushed her away from him. He stood up, gathering the little dignity he had left and walked towards the door.

She watched him and waited until he reached for the door knob before speaking again.

“If you’re thinking about confessing all this to Miss. Summers and her boy toy, I’d think twice.

He didn’t answer, only waited for her to get the threat out in the open.

“Not only is it not going to save them, but it would be so easy to add you as a hit. Don’t mess with me.”

He opened the door and stormed out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy rolled bonelessly onto her back, arms extended to the sides. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly and her golden skin was covered by a light sheen of sweat. Spike and she had decided to kill time in the most pleasurable of ways until it was time to leave for their little safari adventure, and so far, there hadn’t been a dull moment. It was now two o’clock in the afternoon, the rental Jeep was parked by the door, the front desk had given them maps and pointers to the most interesting sights on the way to the volcano and in about two hours, food would be delivered to their room. A bag of sandwiches and other goodies they could take with them on their late afternoon trip.

"Did I tire you out, pet?"

A grinning vampire appeared above her, and she grinned right back at him.

"Tired? Me?" She snorted. "Yeah right. If we didn't have to leave soon, I'd make a bet with you on which one of use would pass out first from too much sex, or beg the other one to stop."

"Oh you're on, kitten. Too bad we can't do this today though. I'd be well on my way to win."

"God you're so full of yourself." Her harsh words were softened by the humor in her eyes. "I'm the Slayer, buddy. You can't outdo me. You can try though. I wouldn't complain about that."

Spike gave her naked body a lustful look. "I'll die trying if I have to. Shagged to death... Nothing wrong with that. Beats a stake through the heart any time of the day."

He lowered his head and kissed a path across her breast bone, from one shoulder to the other. Buffy let her head hang over the edge of the bed and sighed contentedly. Then she spotted the open bathroom door.

"You know..." She drawled, her voice a sexy purr. "I had this little fantasy when we first got here... Wanna hear about it?"

She lifted her head back up to look at him, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"Depends. Is it naughty."

"Yes."

"Is it dirty?"

"Nope. It's actually as clean as it can be."

Spike frowned and sat back on his heels, his gorgeous naked body on display for Buffy to admire. She let her eyes roam over him. Seeing him so sexy and obviously comfortable being naked around her made her so hot, she could have sworn the A/C had stopped working. She saw Spike's lips moving, but just stared without answering. She finally snapped out of her contemplation, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a moment. What did you say?"

He smirked knowingly. "I said, you got me bloody curious. What did you have in mind?"

She blinked.

"Fantasy, pet?"

"Oh. Right! Bathroom, that's it. Hot tub. Bubbles, champagne, yummy, wet, naked Spike."

"And when exactly did you think of that?" He asked, his blue eyes shining with mirth.

She flushed a little more under her light tan. Suddenly feeling too naked, she pulled the white sheet to her, covering her breast almost demurely.

Spike chuckled at her little display of modesty and swiftly ripped the sheet away from her and sent it flying across the room. "Not hiding from me now, you little minx." He lowered his head and gave one of her puckered nipples a wet suck. "And I believe I asked you a question."

"First night we got here." Buffy mumbled.

"Is that right?" He asked with the beginning of a smug smirk forming on his lush lips.

"Mmhmm. We'd just arrived and we were looking around the room before unpacking. You were playing with the T.V. I think and I went into the bathroom. Everything seemed to be arranged for a couple to have a romantic vacation. The huge tub with the bubble bath bottle next to it, the scented massage oils, the candles and the champagne. I found myself thinking of you and me taking advantage of the romantic setting. Can you blame me?"

Spike's expression soften, the smirk turning into a warm, gentle smile. "No, Buffy. I don't believe I can." She was very much a girl still. With a yearning for normal and girly. He had to admit that her romantic side spoke to the foolish human poet that was still, and always would be, part of who he was.

“As a matter of fact,” he continued. “I think we still have that bottle of champagne. The maid put it in the mini-fridge when she made the room the next day. What do you say we act on that fantasy of yours, kitten?”

She nodded her head, a happy smile lighting up her face.

Spike planted a kiss on her forehead and stood up. Buffy tried to follow his lead, but he stopped her.

“Lie down, relax, and let me take care of everything.”

She watched him disappear into the bathroom and rested her head back on the mattress. Only a few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Buffy got up and went to retrieve the sheet that was now in a heap on the floor. She wrapped it around her slim body and went to open the door. Assuming it must be their picnic food being delivered earlier than expected; she opened without even looking through the peep hole. She groaned when she saw who was standing there and automatically regretted opening the door.

“What the hell do you want? How did you know what room I was in?!” Buffy asked angrily.

In front of her stood the man who had flirted with her the other night and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He looked haggard and for a moment, Buffy thought maybe he was psychotic and she’d have to kick his ass to make him understand the meaning of ‘not interested’.

The man ran nervous fingers through his shaggy hair. He looked shifty.

“I said, what do you want?” Buffy snapped when he didn’t answer right away.

“Miss Summers... Please, could we go somewhere together. We need to talk...”

“You know what? I changed my mind. Don’t care WHY you’re here. How did you find me? Are you some kind of psycho stalker or something? I told you to get lost.”

Spike walked back into the room still naked, his very manly bits on proud display and obviously not bothering with fake modesty. Buffy turned her attention to him, giving him an amused look. Ben didn’t seem so amused by the scene.

“Please, I beg of you... Give me a chance to...”

“Oh my God! What is wrong with you?”

Spike came to stand behind Buffy, and looked genuinely shocked when he got a good look at who she was talking to. “Bleeding hell, mate; you’re thick as a brick wall, aren’t you?”

He dropped a kiss on Buffy’s shoulder, his eyes never leaving the other man’s wary ones. “The lady’s spoken for. I’m the one who gets to shag her. BUGGER. OFF.”

“You don’t understand...”

But the door was unceremoniously slammed in Ben’s face. He stood there for a long moment, dumbstruck. He raised his hand to knock again, ready to insist, but changed his mind when he heard a loud thump behind the door, followed by giggles and moans.

Bloody hell. Where they shagging against the door for his benefit?

He took a step back and hesitated for a moment, but then decided it was best to leave. Maybe this wasn’t worth risking his life after all. He knew he should be doing something sensible, like sliding a note under their door to warn them, but truth be told, he was too insulted by the way he had just been treated to do such a thing. With an attitude like that, they could get out of this mess on their own for all he cared. He’d tried, his conscience was at peace. Not his soddin’ fault if the two twits wouldn’t listen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike had carried Buffy into the bathroom while still deep inside her body. He had managed to climb up the two steps that led to the bath tub and get in the water without dropping her or slipping out of her. Then they relished the feel of the hot, sweet, scented water sloshing around them as they made love. There was now water all over the floor. It looked like the bathroom had been hit by a hurricane.

Spike smiled down at the woman in his arms. He pushed her wet hair away from her face. She was strangely quiet and he wondered what was going on in her head.

“You alright, luv?”

She nodded her head, cheek pressed against his wet chest and arms holding him firmly around the waist. “Yes. Alright doesn’t cover it. I’m better than I have ever been. Why?”

“Don’t know. You’re just quiet, is all. Was wondering what you were thinking about.”

When she didn’t answer his indirect question, he decided not to pry. He reached over her and grabbed the opened bottle of champagne and the two glasses. He poured the sparkling treat into the glasses and handed her one. She took a small sip and smiled.

“Yum. Bubbly goodness.”

Spike grinned at her and took a sip. “Yeah, this is pretty good stuff for complimentary champagne,” he commented while pulling her back into his arms. They lapsed back into silence and again, he wondered where she was.

“Wanna share, pet?”

“Uh? Share what?” She asked, pretending to be clueless. Truth was, she was a little embarrassed to voice what had been bothering her.

“You’re a million miles away. If you want to talk, I’ll listen. ‘is all I’m saying.”

He was surprised to see her blushing bright red. “I... Forget it. It’s stupid. Just thinking about this makes me feel like an idiot, never mind talking about it with you.”

Spike’s eyebrows drew together in concern. “Pet, you do know you can tell me anything, right? I would never think less of you or judge you. If you don’t want to talk to me, that’s fine. But don’t think even for a second that I’d bloody well make you feel like an idiot.”

“I know that. It’s just a little embarrassing.” She took a shuddering breath. “It’s just... Yesterday. Remember in the morning, after Xander called?”

“Yeah. What of it?”

“When you were all with the bumpies and everything...?”

The look of confusion on Spike’s face could have been comical if Buffy wasn’t so flustered at the idea of confessing what she was about to confess.

Spike nodded his head carefully. “Yes, pet, I do remember that.”

“Well, it’s just that... something happened. And it happened again just now while we were having sex. It’s...” She let out a frustrated breath and Spike ran a soothing hand on her back to try to get her to relax.

“It’s weird and twisted but...”

Understanding dawned on Spike and his eyes widen a little in shock. “You wanted me to bite you.” He stated in a soft voice, almost afraid the words would make her run away.

She looked away and nodded her head slowly, her cheek flaming red in embarrassment. “I don’t know why. I don’t know what got into me. “Buffy, pet, look at me. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s normal.”

She gave him a disbelieving look. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s... complicated and I wasn’t sure if... with a human... but it’s normal, believe me. And you’re not sick or twisted.”

“But, I’m around vampires all the time and it never happened to me. I never thought of being bitten with anything but disgust and fear. And even with...” She decided not to say the name, but she could tell he knew she meant Angel.

“I bleeding well hope so! Doing your job would be a tad more dangerous if you started getting aroused at the thought of being bitten by the first pathetic fledging crossing your path.”

He gave her a look and she couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“Yeah, that could get awkward... and potentially deadly.”

“And luv, it probably didn’t happen with...” He scrunched up his nose in obvious disdain at the idea of even referring to his grand sire in relation to Buffy and sex. “...the poof because you had other things to worry about that night. But sex with vampires and biting kinda goes hand in hand. Just never thought a human might feel that way. Maybe it has to do with you being the Slayer.”

“So... I’m not crazy or perverted then? I don’t have a death wish?”

Spike relaxed against the tub and pulled Buffy closer to him. He ran a hand over her wet hair and kissed the top of her head. “No luv. You’re not crazy. There are different kinds of bites.”

“Really? Like what?”

“Well, there’s the obvious. The bite to feed. Clean, quick, over in a snap. That one you know about, of course. Then, there’s the one to kill and hurt. Angelus’ favorite. I don’t think the magnificent poof ever made it quick. He was a sadistic bastard. Sorry pet.”

“’s ok. I know how Angelus was. Or at least, I have an idea. Keep talking.”

“There’s the bite to dominate, between sire and childe. It’s a hierarchy thing... to show who’s the boss.”

Buffy nodded her understanding.

“But what you felt... That was a totally different thing. Biting can be pleasurable during sex. It’s very intimate and creates a bond between lovers.”

“Oh.” Was all Buffy could manage to say.

Seeing that she was once again lost in her thoughts, Spike kept talking. His next words sounded almost shy.

“But there’s also the most important of bites. The claiming. A vamp and his or her lover exchange blood to become mates. That bite creates an unbreakable bond between them.”

Buffy was now staring at him with her big hazel eyes, her pretty face serious. She leaned forward and kissed him softly. “Do you think... Do you think we...”

Spike put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her away. “No.”

She looked hurt by the rejection so he tried to explain.

“I don’t mean never. I just mean... Oh bloody hell.” He stopped talking, frustrated with himself for not finding the right words.

Spike polished off his glass of champagne and served himself a refill before continuing. How did he get himself into this mess? He didn’t know how to explain to her how foolish what she was asking was without hurting her feelings.

“It’s sacred to vampires, pet. It’s a huge deal. You don’t just rush into something like that. It would be like getting married to some wanker you just met in Las Vegas while you‘re drunk, only worst.”

Her dejected look was slowly replaced by a sort of understanding.

“I’m not saying never, Buffy. There’s nothing I’d want more. But we’ve only been together for a few days. And honestly, I have no clue what your intentions are for when we get back home. Kitten... I don’t even know how you feel about me.”

She had the decency to look ashamed. She knew she hadn’t said the words to him yet even though she wanted to. “I know...”

Spike crushed her lips with his, kissing her fervently. He quickly pulled away and smiled at her.

“Baby, if we go back to Sunnydale and manage to make things work between us, then we‘ll see what happens next and we‘ll suss out together where we go from there.”

“Yeah, I know. I guess I just wanted to know if you’d want to. I know it’s too soon. I’m not even sure I really understand all of this.”

“Of course I would want to. Just not now. It’s too soon.”

Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck and their lips met again. He felt her shivering against him and pulled away.

“Let’s get out of here. Water’s getting cold.”

Spike helped Buffy stand up and wrapped her in an oversized towel, then picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. They were putting on clothes and getting ready to leave when there was a knock on the door. Spike answered it. It was room service delivering their food for the road. He gave the guy a good tip then shut the door.

“You ready to go pet?”

“Absolutely!”