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I Know You II by slaymesoftly
 
Twenty-three
 
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Chapter Twenty-three

Buffy awoke from a dream in which Spike was showing her why he’d been disappointed that she’d come so quickly the night before; only to find that it was not a dream. The vampire was kneeling on the bed, his hands under her hips, holding her to his face while his tongue swirled and probed her open sex. It briefly occurred to her that she should be embarrassed about being exposed like that, but she couldn’t hold the thought while he was doing wickedly wonderful things with his tongue and lips.

“Guh!”

“Ah!” He raised his head for a second to grin at her. “Good morning, love. I thought you were going to sleep forever.”

“I...I was...having...a...really...nice...dream,” she managed to gasp out as he went back to licking her. She found that the position in which he was holding her made her completely dependent upon him. She had no leverage by which to increase the pressure and she could see that he was taking great delight in her whimpers and attempts to raise her pelvis higher.

When her whimpers began to sound more like sobs, he took pity on her and pulled the needy piece of flesh into his mouth where he began to suck on it while continuing to tease it with his tongue. Her sobs soon turned to gasps and shrieks as she trembled in his grip, arching her back almost into a bow until nothing but her neck and head were left on the mattress.

Instead of letting her go, he lowered her hips until they were just over his thighs, then slid his hands up to her shoulders. He pulled her up and forward until she was sitting on his lap, his cock having slid easily into her well-lubricated body. Her legs automatically went around his waist and she sighed when he pulled her close and nibbled on her neck.

Clenching muscles that she hadn’t realized she had, Buffy smiled to herself when she pulled a heartfelt groan from the cocky vampire. Without moving, she continued to squeeze and release him until he was involuntarily pushing into her and babbling in her ear.

“Oh, yes, pet – god, yes, love. Oh, so strong, so warm and wonderful, Ah! Going to make me....Buffy!”

He managed not to vamp out this time as he clutched her tightly and let himself find his release in her quivering depths. His actions as he approached his orgasm provided stimulation to a whole new set of nerves that set Buffy off into another shrieking spasm that matched his in intensity.

When their bodies had finally stopped trembling and jerking, they remained wrapped together, clinging to each other as though to a life preserver. When Buffy’s breathing had begun to drop back to a manageable level, she raised her head from its place on his chest.

“Wow,” she managed to gasp. “Wowie, wow, wow.”

Trying not to appear as shaken as he felt, Spike could only echo her.

“Wow works for me. Don’t think my brain is capable of comin’ up with anything more complicated just now.”

Buffy remained happily cradled in his arms, still intimately connected while she waited for her heart rate and breathing to approach a normal rhythm. She noted idly that, although he seemed as shaken and sated as she felt, he was still hard and she squeezed him experimentally.

“You’re kidding, right?” she asked when she felt an answering twitch.

His chuckle vibrated against her cheek and he hugged her tightly before releasing her and pushing her slightly away from his body.

“Vampire stamina, love. What can I say?”

“You could say, ‘Wow, Buffy, that was so awesome I don’t think I can move for the rest of the day,” she grumbled, a bit put out that he could be wanting more so soon.

“’s not a reflection on how satisfied I am,” he explained quickly. “I’m every bit as knocked out by what just happened here as you are. It’s just that being in you like this is...Never want to leave here, love. Could stay in you till I dust and be perfectly happy about it.”

Not sure how to respond to his remarks, she chose to ignore the implication behind them and reply to the actual words.

“Well, you can’t do that – cause I have to go to work now and I’m pretty sure there’s, like, a health regulation or something that says we can’t walk around a restaurant like this.”

“More’s the pity,” he laughed as he lifted her off his cock and set her gently on the bed. “But you’re right, love. You’re runnin’ a bit late this morning. Best get yourself all showered off and out the door.”

“Oh, now you can’t wait to get rid of me. I see how it is,” she said, sticking her tongue out at him. “Got what you wanted and now you’re sending me away.”

He grabbed her arm almost hard enough to hurt and met her eyes firmly. “You know that’s not what I’m doing.” It wasn’t a question, but a flat statement and she immediately dropped her teasing.

“I know,” she whispered, leaning in to brush her lips across his. “Don’t be so touchy.”

Trying to salvage something of his image, he threw himself back on the bed and closed his eyes. “Not touchy, just tired. Tryin’ to get rid of you so I can get some kip before tonight.”

“Sheeyah, right.” She stood up and grabbed some clothes as she headed for the bathroom and a hot shower. The hot water felt good on her achy body and she luxuriated in it until she was afraid that she was going to be late for work. Drying off and dressing quickly, she grabbed a couple of pieces of bread from the kitchen, put on her coat and, after peeking into the bedroom to be sure that the sun wasn’t going to reach the sleeping vampire on the bed, she went out the door, feeling very much like the adult she that told herself she now was.

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

After an uneventful day at work -- where she blushed every time someone looked at her too long, sure that they could tell how she’d spent the morning – she walked out into the alley, surprised to find that Spike was not there waiting for her. She frowned and absently staked a vampire that clearly didn’t know he was seeking food in the Slayer’s alley, before she started towards her home.

She was almost to her street when a familiar-looking black van came roaring past her, going so fast she almost missed the strong vamp signatures coming from it. Fear such as she’d never felt before seized her, turning her stomach into a hard knot as she ran towards her little house. She froze as she entered the front yard and saw the signs of a massive struggle. The fence had been knocked down, there was vamp dust everywhere, and a stake lay on the ground.

With a moan of fear, Buffy knelt down beside the biggest dust piles and lifted the fine powder in her hands. She tried to control the hysterical urge to chase after the long-gone van, and force herself to think clearly. She could hear Spike’s voice in her head saying, “You’re stronger than they are, pet, but you have to be smarter too.”

She got to her feet and stumbled to the door, operating on automatic pilot as she unlocked it and entered the house that she had left in such a happy mood only hours before.

Think, Buffy! Think! If they killed Spike, why would they be in such a hurry to leave? Wouldn’t they stay here and try to take me out too? So, he has to be alive. They’ve taken him away for some reason.

Once again, she could hear Spike’s voice in her head. “Don’t do anything stupid, Slayer. It’s a trap. You know it’s a trap. Don’t fall for it.”

Out loud, to herself, Buffy growled, “If they wanted to get the Slayer to come back – they’re going to get their wish. I’m going to take that place apart brick by brick until I find Spike – and he’d better be in good shape when I find him, or...”

She walked into the kitchen and yelled, “Dawn! Where the hell are you? Why weren’t you watching? Dawn! I need you!”

Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she realized the futility of trying to reach someone who was in another dimension by screaming at her. She changed her clothes quickly, gathered her weapon bag and extra stakes. She picked up the key to the car and stared at it, saying firmly, “I can do this. How hard can it be? I turn the car on, step on the gas and it goes. I can do this.”

She tore apart a paper bag and scribbled a large note to Dawn, propping it up on the kitchen table where she would be sure to see it if she looked in.

“They have Spike. I’m going to get him back.”

Carrying her weapons bag and a sword, she went out the door and around the house to the car. She threw her things on the passenger seat and sat behind the wheel, staring uncertainly at the dials in front of her.

“I can do this,” she muttered again, putting the key in the ignition and turning it until she heard the motor catch. Then she realized that she couldn’t reach the gas pedal, and growled in frustration as she pulled the seat forward until she could reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel. Taking a deep breath, she moved the gearshift lever to “R” and began to back up. Which went well until she found the tree growing on the side of the yard.

“Okay, not a problem. Now I go forward until I can’t go any farther and then I back up again – I’ll just keep that up until I’ve turned around. Damn! It looks so easy when Spike does it...”

The car shot forward as she changed gears, bumping into the side of the house so hard that she hit her nose on the steering wheel. Tears of frustration were filling her eyes as she continued to try to wrestle the big car around far enough that she could pull into the street. When she had finally mastered the art of turning around without sending the car leaping in one direction or another, she breathed a sigh of relief and edged down the driveway.

She stared at the other cars moving smoothly down the street and gripped the steering wheel with clenched fists.

“I can do this,” she muttered, over and over. “I can do this. I’m the Slayer and I have superpowers - how hard can it be to drive a stupid car?”

Just as she was about to take the plunge into the, fortunately, fairly light traffic, she thought she heard her name. She glanced around quickly, saw no one, and focused her eyes on the road again. Slayer reflexes allowed her to catch the movement behind her, and she glanced in the rearview mirror to see Dawn standing in the driveway behind the car, screaming at her and waving frantically.

With a grateful prayer to the Powers that Be, she turned the car off and remembered to put the hand brake on before opening the door. Her wariness of the sister she didn’t really know evaporated in the face of their mutual fear for Spike’s safety, and she allowed Dawn to hold her shivering body as she tried to explain what she’d found when she got home.

“They’ve got him. I know they do. They want me to come running in there to rescue him, and...”

“And you were about to do just that,” Dawn said wryly, as she released Buffy. “Weren’t you?”

“Well...yeah. I mean, that was my plan...” Buffy stared dubiously from the parked car to the still-busy street. “I was working up my courage to take the car out where there are, like...other cars....moving.”

Dawn shook her head. “I knew you didn’t know how to drive yet. Okay, here’s my plan. Wanna hear it?”

“Is it better than my plan?”

“Well, it’s a lot safer for the poor citizens of this world who are out and about,” Dawn said with a small smile.

“Ha, ha.”

“Okay, here’s the sitch – I can drive. I have a license and everything – not that I guess that’s going to matter to the cops here, but...” She shook herself. “Doesn’t matter. The point is, I can get you there, which will also help me know where it is. Then we can reconnoiter—“

“Reconnoiter? What the--?”

“Souvenir word from one of your exes – never mind, it’s not important – the point is, we can see what’s going on, maybe figure out where they’re keeping Spike and then I can go back for help—“

“Help? What kind of help?”

“Well...I haven’t actually gotten that far with the plan yet. But I know we can do something! I just have to know where the place is so I can get back there; and you have to promise not to get killed until I figure out what to do.”

Buffy shook her head in disbelief. “Except for the whole knowing how to drive part – which, yay – you aren’t going to be any help at all.”

“We’ll see. Get in.”

Dawn walked around to the driver’s side, let the seat back until she could fit her long legs into the car and turned the engine on. Buffy meekly climbed into the passenger seat. As soon as she was in, the car shot out into a break in traffic and Dawn was heading in the direction Buffy had pointed.

Buffy watched silently for a while as Dawn weaved skillfully in and out of traffic until they reached the road to Petersburg. As the car rocketed forward, Buffy ventured, “Let me guess. Spike taught you to drive?”

Dawn took her eyes off the road long enough to flash a grin. “Yeah. He didn’t want to, but when you were dead—“

“When I was what?!”

“Oops? Another one of those stories for another day.” She rushed on. “Anyway, he needed to distract me – to distract both of us, really; and teaching me to drive before I was old enough for a license was how he did it. Did a good job, too. I aced my test when I was old enough – and I’ve driven in Rome!”

“So, it just feels like we might crash any second – we’re not really going to?”

“Of course not!” Dawn sounded hurt. “I thought you’d be in a hurry. Just because they took him alive doesn’t mean they aren’t torturing him or something.”

“I am in a hurry,” Buffy sighed. “And I do appreciate this. Really. I just—There’s so much you know about me and my future, and I—“

“It’s not really your future,” Dawn said kindly. “Not anymore. It would have happened if the Powers hadn’t sent my Buffy back there, but now, who knows what’s going to happen in Sunnydale? Or here. This is your future now.”

“Oh joy,” Buffy muttered.

“Hey, on the plus side, it took the other Buffy and Spike years to fall in love with each other – or to admit it, anyway. And look at you two already. All hand-holdy and dating and...stuff.”

“Yeah,” Buffy said. “And look what it got Spike – captured and probably tortured by some old vamp that he hates.”

“Spike’s tough. He’ll hang in there.”

Dawn spoke with more confidence than she felt, the miles rolling by so quickly not really bringing her any closer to a real idea about how to help Buffy save Spike. Her experiments with taking Suki with her on trips had convinced the coven that, while she could bring other living beings into a portal with her, they could not step out of it without causing disruption to the dimensional walls. So, her plan of bringing a small army of slayers back with her wasn’t going to work.

After a lengthy silence, Buffy spoke softly.

“It’s all right, Dawn. This has been a big help. If you can’t bring any help back – and who would you bring, anyway? We—I’ll be all right. I’ll find Spike, cut him loose and, if we have to, we’ll run away again.” She was quiet for a minute, then growled, “But I really, really want to turn that ugly old vamp to dust for the last time...”

She gestured to Dawn to go past the driveway to the Master’s lair. Once again, the building was well-lit and a small but steady stream of vamps seemed to be going in and out. They turned off the lights and coasted to a stop where they could watch the entrance through a gap in the trees. Buffy studied the building for any sign of additional guards, but saw nothing but the one vamp at the door to the blood dispensing area.

“I know they have to be expecting me. I don’t understand why they don’t have guards.”

“Maybe they thought that you’d be afraid to come without Spike,” Dawn ventured in a whisper. “Or maybe they think you can’t get here by yourself. They probably don’t expect you to show up this soon.”

“Good point.” Buffy nodded. “Maybe I can catch them by surprise before they get ready for me. Well,” she said briskly, reaching over the seat for her weapons bag,” Thanks for the ride. I’ll let you know what happens.”

“I’m going to think of something,” Dawn said firmly. “I’ll be back – and I’ll have some kind of help with me.”

“It’s okay, Dawn,” Buffy insisted. “This is what the Slayer does. I don’t think we’re meant to have help.”

“Can’t you just wait here for a little while?” Dawn pleaded.

Buffy shook her head stubbornly. “No. I think you’re probably right; they aren’t expecting me this soon. It’s probably my best chance to get inside and find Spike before they...” She bit her lip. “To find Spike,” she finished firmly. “Thanks for the ride.”

Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Buffy slipped into the bushes and trees that separated the factory’s parking lot from the main road. Dawn watched her go, a frown creasing her brow as she tried to think what to do. With a determined clenching of her teeth, she pulled a portal up around herself and disappeared into the night.


 
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