Chapter Six

Now that he knew he could stand again, Spike spent a part of every day working on strengthening his legs and walking longer and longer distances. He was never standing when Buffy arrived, preferring to sit in his wheelchair or on the bed until she was ready to leave. Then he would walk her to the end of the hallway, or all the way to the door if the sun had gone down. Over time, it had become their custom for the vampire to drop a light kiss on her forehead just before she left him for the night, so the night that he didn’t do it as soon as they got to the door, Buffy glanced up at him to see what was wrong.

Having been momentarily distracted by a sound out on the street, Spike was just a fraction of a second slower than normal and he never looked down before dipping his head for his chaste good-night kiss on her forehead; as a result, he didn’t see that Buffy’s face was already turning up to his. Instead of his lips meeting her forehead, they lightly brushed her own slightly parted ones, causing them both to flinch in surprise. They stared at each other in shock, neither one willing to be the first to move away. When they had remained frozen in place long past the point of salvaging the situation with a casual remark, the vampire sighed against the lips that were still barely touching his, and moved the fraction of an inch it took to make the kiss unmistakably real.

With a matching sigh, Buffy brought her hands up around his neck and held on while the kiss deepened and became something neither one had expected. Where any thought of being touched or kissed by one of the boys her friends were constantly trying to fix her up with made the slayer recoil in disgust, Spike’s kiss was awakening feelings she had been sure had gone forever when Angelus destroyed both her innocence and her heart in one brutal act.

When he put his arms around her and pulled her against his body, deepening the kiss and causing her knees to weaken with desire, she felt tears of joy filling her eyes. The instant Spike smelled the tears he realized what he was doing and to whom he was doing it; he responded immediately, pulling back and gasping, “Bloody hell, Buffy. I’m sorry, pet. I’m so sorry. I’m a bloody wanker – oh, god, luv, don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I’m sorry….I never meant to—“

“Shhhh, shhh,” she soothed him, laying a trembling hand against his cheek. “They’re tears of happiness, Spike.”

“Happiness? I go after you like some stupid git what has no idea the things you’ve been through, and it makes you happy? What about that could possibly make you happy?“

Buffy answered him by pulling his head down and fastening her mouth on his, keeping it there, her tongue pushing against his tightly clenched lips until he surrendered and began to kiss her again. He could feel the heat rolling off her body and, as she continued to kiss him, he began to realize what she meant. Mixed in with the scent of tears was the unmistakable aroma of her arousal. Just the faintest trace of it, but enough for him to recognize the scent from when he’d been forced to show her what responses his tongue was capable of evoking.

Satisfied that she wasn’t lying, and that he had not ruined their friendship by his involuntary response to her, he held her close again, stroking her back as he nibbled and kissed her swollen lips. When he noticed her slight flinch as she felt his erection, now pressing against her stomach, he pulled back pushed her away, holding her by the shoulders in order to be able to read her face.

She was blushing furiously and quickly stammered, “I…I’m happy that I feel…I mean, you said I would, but I was so sure I would never…but I’m not ready for—“

Understanding immediately what she was trying to say, he released her, holding on to one hand, which he raised to his lips and kissed softly before responding.

“I know you’re not, love. Wouldn’t expect it of you. That’s just the way my body reacts when it’s that close to something so beautiful, yeah? ”

In all the time she had spent with the recovering vampire, Buffy had learned that she could talk to him about almost anything and they had discussed more than once, her lack of interest in dating and her complete unwillingness to have any physical contact with any of the boys with which her friends insisted on fixing her up. Spike had continued to assure her that Angelus had not “ruined her for life” as she frequently worried, but that she would recover her normal urges and desires in due time. That he, himself, would be the one to reawaken her hormones was not something either one of them had expected and he was at as big a loss as she was.

“I…I guess I’d better get home,” she ventured, not meeting his eyes. “There’s school tomorrow, and Mom likes me to check in when I come home late, and…” She paused, then, still without meeting his eyes, stood on her toes and quickly kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Spike,” she whispered. ”Thank you”

“My pleasure, luv,” he whispered back as she disappeared down the driveway; his hand touched his cheek where her lips had been pressed so briefly.

Spike walked back to his bedroom and, with a groan, threw himself on the suddenly empty-feeling bed.

That’s it, then. If she even comes back here, it will be to tell me to get out of Sunnydale. No more late-night talks and giggles. The poor chit will be afraid to go near me now. It’s time to go, Spike. You’ve worn out your welcome here.

Even as he cursed the body that had betrayed him, he was unzipping his pants and preparing to use his hand to relieve the pressure that kissing Buffy had created. He knew himself too well to think that he would be able to be around her now without expressing the desire he’d been denying for weeks. If nothing else, the raging hard-on he would be sporting would be a dead giveaway.

When he had taken the edge off his frustration, he got up and went out into the night, determined to do what was necessary to prepare to leave the town where he had been both more miserable and happier than ever before in his life.