Chapter Twelve

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They were in the Bronze, just the two of them, and she was trying to pick out vampires that might be prowling the club for that night’s dinner but one vampire was set on distracting her with mind-blowing kisses. She parted from him, breathing heavily, and pressed her hands to his chest to prevent him from moving close again. He was smirking when she raised her eyes to his and she narrowed hers.

“This isn’t a date. This is work.”

“Nothing wrong with mixing a little business and pleasure,” he murmured, one hand trailing down her arm and sending all sorts of pleasant tingles through her.

“Stop distracting me. I’m working,” she huffed, turning her attention to the crowded club.

“I’m helping,” he murmured, his hand now resting on her knee, his thumb just stroking over the fabric. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Helping?”

“Helping you blend in with the crowd,” he replied lowly, that trademark smirk spreading across his face.

“With that hair?!” she retorted with a pointed look at his head.

“Ouch, Slayer. Got a bit of pent-up frustration?” he asked with a leer, his thumb increasing its pressure just above her knee.
She rolled her eyes and gave him a shove to the chest before moving past him and heading into the crowd.



Dressed as she was in a low-cut halterneck top and a flowing skirt (not for Spike’s enjoyment, she convinced herself), it wasn’t long before she had a partner on the dancefloor and with a smile, she moved to the music sensuously as he rested a hand on her waist. The back of her neck was tingling furiously, making her more than aware of the vampire watching her intently. She was reminded for a moment of the night she had danced just like this with Xander in order to make Angel jealous and couldn’t help but smile to herself. Dance of the Jealous Vampire Part Two.

When she felt her partner disappear and felt a distinctly cooler breath against the back of her neck, her smile grew.

“If you wanted some attention, you could have just asked, Slayer,” he murmured in her ear, pressing himself against her back, his hands firm against her hips.

“I knew you’d come running,” she countered, “Just like a little...puppy.”

She punctuated her words with a roll of her hips that pressed her even tighter against him and she felt his answering growl against her back. He spun her around and caught her in his arms, locking them around her. Smiling up at the vampire coyly, she ran her hands up his chest and twined them around his neck. His eyes were like dark slits – an interesting mixture of anger and arousal.

“You’re a tease, Slayer.”

“Got a problem with that?” she asked, pressing herself up against him.

He growled lowly but his arm tightened around her waist, pulling her body flush against his.



The tingles at the back of her neck were growing and with a glance at a couple near them, she leant up to whisper in Spike’s ear, smiling as she pressed herself against him.

“See the vamp and the girl?”

“Yeah,” he growled.

“I’ll get the vamp. You get the girl.”

She pushed away from him and moved away, stumbling as she reached the vampire and colliding with him, knocking him away from his dance partner.

“Hey!” he protested.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, catching him by the shoulders, “Hey, don’t I know you?!”

The vampire looked confused and she righted herself, nodding.

“Yeah. Didn’t we work together once?”

“Jay?” the girl he had been dancing with called out in confusion and he glanced at her but when Buffy turned, she saw Spike talking to the girl, one hand on her shoulder guiding her in the opposite direction already. She tightened her grip on the vampire and turned to him with a sweet smile.

“Hey, let’s finish this chat outside, yeah?”

His eyes widened in fear and she smiled, dragging him out of the club with very little effort.



She staked him with just as little effort and turned as she heard a clapping. She rolled her eyes as Spike clapped, stepping towards her.

“Hardly put up a fight,” she moaned, pouting.

“Vamps these days. Just haven’t got the stamina,” he answered, the last whispered in her ear as he caught her in his arms, “Give us all a bad name.”

“’Coz you have such a good reputation otherwise?” she quipped, trying not to let on just how affected she was by the hand stroking the small of her back.

“Me? I’ve got a pretty good reputation in terms of stamina.”

She rolled her eyes again and let out a laugh.

“Modest, Spike.”

“Oh, s’all true, I assure you,” he murmured, his breath tickling her temple as he pressed a kiss to her skin, “And one day, I’ll show you.”

“As if,” she murmured weakly, already leaning into his caress.

“Slayer, will you just switch your mouth off for a minute and actually go with what your body’s telling me.”

“It-“

She barely got the word out before his mouth covered hers and she moaned helplessly, coaxing his cool tongue inside her mouth as she slung her arms around him, arching into his body. His hand was right at the bottom of her back, holding her firmly against him – so she was under no illusions as to what his body was telling her – as his mouth slid over hers, tasting her, teasing her.



When she needed to breathe, he parted from her and his mouth dropped to her shoulder.

“That’s more like it,” he murmured as she let out a whimper.

Narrowing her eyes, she shoved him away and righted herself. He smiled and quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Love, you can fight it as much as you like, but your body’s giving me a pretty clear message about what you want.”

“It’s obviously crazy,” she answered haughtily, even as she was still struggling to catch her breath. He stepped towards her again and raised a hand to her face, brushing his fingers across her skin and tucking her hair back behind her ear.

“Come on, Slayer. You don’t have to fight me every minute of every day,” he whispered, his voice low and coaxing, “Sometimes you can just give in. Won’t hold it against you. No-one else here to see.”

She leant into him instinctively, eyes fluttering shut at his tender caress.

“I like fighting you,” she whispered, her lips quirking into a slight smile.

“Oh, I know that,” he murmured, “Enjoy it myself. But I also enjoy doing this without a fight.”

He leant down and brushed his lips over hers softly, barely touching her. His hands fastened around her arms loosely, just holding her lightly against him as she succumbed. She should have known there was no winning with Spike – there never had been so far.