Part Sixteen Angelus groaned as Buffy added yet another box onto the already large stack that he carried in his capable arms. "Baby, don't you think that you've bought enough, yet?" Buffy stopped skipping down the street and turned to face him, a huge grin on her face. "Nuh, uh! I still have to pick up a pair of knee-high leather boots!" Angelus stared at her. "Buff, you've already bought a pair." He thought about it for a second. "The long, blue box..." She shook her head. "They go past my knees. You know, they're going to go really well with that black leather mini I was wearing last night...oooooh! Not to mention those shorts...you know, the tight leather ones..." Angelus grinned. "You mean the ones that look like something that wrestling chick, Chyna, would wear?" He hang his tongue out of his mouth like a thirsty puppy. Buffy giggled at the picture he made. "Hey! The ones I bought actually cover my ass!" She stuck her tongue out at him. Angelus teased it with his own, careful not to inundate her with a stack of boxes. The couple broke apart and headed back to the hotel limousine to put the boxes away. Angelus secretly hoped that they would be unable to fit anything else in, so that they could go home and have a good fuck. They'd been shopping all day and over the past few months, he'd come to be extremely used to sex in the morning when they got up...then again before lunch...after lunch...then of course there was before and after dinner... The vampire was starting to experience a kind of withdrawal from sex! It had been an entire seven hours without a deep, intimate touch from his lover...he was getting depressed. Buffy hadn't noticed her husband's growing discomfort with the lack of physical intimacy between them that morning, instead, her attention was drawn to a gathering crowd at the entrance to one of the large department stores. She grinned when she realized exactly what was going on. She turned to the car, where her lover was bent over, placing the numerous packages into the backseat of the limousine with the aid of Daniels, the driver. She flashed a devious grin to herself when she admired his ass... The Slayer placed a hand on her vampire's back. "I'll be back in a second, honey, there's just something I have to do..." Before Angelus could turn around, she was gone. *~*~* Angelus was standing at the rear door of the limo when Buffy returned, looking mighty proud of herself. Her lover was immediately suspicious. She made her way to him and laid her hand on his chest, gently stroking the material, her touch sizzling through to his sun-warmed skin. The vampire's eyes narrowed as he took note of the position he was in. He was not reassured when words left his wife's beautiful mouth. "Angelus...how much do you love me?" "Why...?" The question was drawn out. He was aware just how much stock Buffy could put on his answer. He also knew that she was up to something... Her mouth moved to his earlobe and sucked the skin until he was groaning. "It's just a question..." she whispered prettily. Angelus growled in warning as she bit down on the lobe of his ear. "Tell me." She pouted slightly. "How much do you like pleasing me...?" she murmured huskily. It was his turn to grin. "Oh, very much, Baby. There's nothing more that I'd rather do than please my lovely Slayer..." Said Slayer pulled back triumphantly. It was only then that he realized what he'd said...and dropped himself right into... He groaned in response as purely evil delight crossed her features. Buffy grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the crowd in front of the department store. "You see, there's this modeling thing..." Angelus tugged her to a stop. "Halt!" Buffy glared at him. "You don't expect me to let you get up there and let a bunch of pubescent teens drool all over my wife, do you?" She laughed. "Of course not! It's a male fashion show!" The all mighty Angelus paled. He shook his head furiously. "Oh, no! No way! You're not getting me up there!" The evil grin returned. "You wanna bet?" She leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Angelus groaned and dragged her into the limousine a few feet away... Buffy always got her way... Part Seventeen Angelus glided out of the limousine with a huge grin on his face. His entire body was pleasantly numb. Buffy exited the long, black vehicle with a triumphant smirk. She knew the easiest way to Angelus willpower. The vampire sighed as his Slayer led him off to where the catwalk had been set up for the day's events. Buffy directed him to a tall redhead who appeared to be directing the show. "Mallory, hi!" Buffy called to the woman as they approached. The redhead grinned when she saw Buffy. Her grin widened considerably when she noticed Angelus with her. "Is this him?" Buffy nodded smugly. "Oh, yeah." Buffy's smug face turned dark quickly when she noticed the tall redhead size up her husband with more than just professional interest. The Slayer wasn't blind to the admiring looks her lover constantly received, but it wasn't very often that they knew that they were on friendly terms with his wife... She scowled as Mallory's gaze raked over him yet again. Buffy turned her dark gaze on Angelus when he smirked at her. She could almost hear him saying, 'It serves you right...'. Buffy glared daggers at the woman's back as she led Angelus to a group of women who were organizing the clothing. They also took the opportunity to ogle... She was beginning to think that this wasn't a good idea... *~*~* Scratch that...Buffy thought. This is definitely the most brilliant idea I've ever come up with... Buffy wasn't the only one in the audience who cheered when Angelus came striding down the catwalk. Her breath caught in her throat as first a bare leg appeared, then an arm...then chest...followed by the covered (dammit!) ass... He was modeling underwear...Buffy stifled a giggle at the scorching look he threw her way. Buffy held one hand over her mouth and one grasping thin air as she stared at him coming down the catwalk. Mmm, mmm... All he wore were a pair of tight, black briefs with some kind of symbol on them. She wasn't really paying attention to what he was wearing, more like what he wasn't wearing was what drew her avid attention. "Would you get a look at that...?" she heard a throaty whisper behind her. "I know!" came another voice. "He's absolutely divine..." The couple groaned over the imagery that formed in their heads from a part of the conversation Buffy couldn't hear. The Slayer's eyes nearly turned black with anger and jealousy as she heard the next part of their conversation. "Do you think I'll be able to snag him?" murmured the first. The second was in total agreement. "Oh yeah, no one could possibly resist you. But he might already have a partner." The first one shrugged off the thought. "It doesn't matter. I can win anyone when I set my mind to it..." The second one laughed. "You are so bad!" Buffy's immortal blood began to boil. Without thinking, she reached behind her and threw the offending person over her shoulder. Angelus, who had just made his way up the catwalk, had been close enough to hear part of the conversation. He had been glad that he hadn't been one of the two that were getting to her, especially when he could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. Angelus posed at the end of the catwalk with a huge grin on his face as he watched his Buffy slam the person onto the ground and grind out a warning to him... "If you ever...ever...go near that perfect male specimen in any lifetime, expect yourself emasculated and eviscerated..." she threatened to the sandy-haired male that stared up at her with wide, terrified eyes. When Buffy let the man go, he grabbed the hand of the dark-haired man he had been conversing with and took off. The Slayer looked up to where her lover was still posing and glared at him. *~*~* Angelus laughed all the way back to the waiting limousine after the fashion show had finished. "And here I thought that I'd have to worry about the women who had been ogling you..." Buffy grumbled. Part Eighteen Amanda laughed at the outrageous tale that Buffy retold that night as they engaged in swordplay. It was Buffy's first lesson in immortal defense; 'How to Stay Immortal 101' as Amanda put it. "I wished I'd decided to go shopping this morning. Just another look at Angelus on that catwalk would have put me right into the shopping mood..." Amanda chuckled. Buffy thrust her sword at the other immortal and glared at her. Then she lost all semblance of anger and grinned. "If I hadn't heard those two men, the same thing would have happened to me." The immortal Slayer knew that everything but friendship was over between her husband and her mentor. Buffy felt that Amanda could become her best friend, as well as her confidant where Angelus was concerned. Amanda didn't seem to hold a romantic interest in Angelus as she once had, centuries ago, and the two seemed to get along as the best of friends. So Buffy was neither worried, nor jealous. Angelus and Nick were seated at a table about fifty feet away. THe two males were chatting about only they knew what. Amanda, Nick and Buffy had all been stunned when they had arrived. As agreed, Buffy had met with Amanda, but Angelus had surprised them when he announced that they would be training elsewhere. The vampire had stipulated that for as long as it took Buffy to learn the way of the immortal, all training would be done where no other immortal could find them and catch them off guard. He would take any and all precautions when it came to his wife's safety until she could properly defend herself. Amanda had agreed. Buffy had been more than a little disagreeable about having to be accompanied everywhere she went outside of the hotel until such time she was ready to take on another immortal, but readily gave in when Angelus had delivered a heartfelt speach about her having to live long enough to be with him for eternity and not leaving him until such time that he was ready to let her go. "And since that will never happen, you'd better be prepared to kill the immortal that will try to kill you!" he had bellowed, much to Amanda's amusement. Never had she seen such a display from a vampire, let alone Angelus. Angelus had led them back to the penthouse elevator. Strangely enough, when the elevator doors had closed behind them, Angelus opened up a panel and pressed a green button. The side of the elevator had slid open to reveal yet another elevator. The three had been amazed that they hadn't realized that there was another entrance and/or exit to the elevator. They had stepped into the other elevator and had waited for Angelus to take them wherever it was he was taking them to train. The elevator had taken them down to what had to be a sub-level. When the doors had opened, darkness had greeted them. A second or two later, the room had lit up to reveal a large room, much like the main lobby of the hotel. There were several doorways leading off to other rooms. Her curiosity piqued, Buffy had asked him what was behind doors number one to seven. He had kissed her, then whispered, "You'll find out eventually..." Even though the doorways had no doors, the rooms were still black as night, with no lights to peer inside. Buffy vowed to the group that she would find out what was in each of the rooms, even if it killed her. Her three companions had laughed at that, Amanda pointing out that it would hardly kill her, unless one of the rooms contained swinging weapons... Buffy had sent the other immortal a mock glare, before showing her sword. Amanda smiled at her newest pupil. "Ahh, very good Buffy." She was pleased that Buffy had discovered on her own how to call forth her weapon. It was one of the hardest things to teach since every immortal was different... Part Nineteen Over the last few hours, Buffy had picked up the finer points of swordplay. Amanda had shown her the essentials, and now it was time to put them to the test... Amanda called for Nick. "Darling, would you mind being partnered with Buffy for a round?" The man stared at her in comic disbelief. "I'm the only one here that can actually die, and stay dead, and I'm the one you want to go first?" Across the table, Angelus laughed. "I guess that tells you where you stand in this relationship!" Nick glared at the vampire. Buffy looked to Amanda, unsure of the other immortal's decision. "I don't know, I'm still the Slayer, so I'm stronger than him." Amanda shrugged off Buffy's concerns with a laugh. "Oh, don't worry about Nick. He can take care of himself. I've taught him a bit about fighting immortals." Amanda cocked her head slightly. "And besides...do you really think I'd send Nick off to die?" Buffy conceded her point as Amanda tossed her sword to Nick. The human caught it easily, but still stared accusingly at the chuckling Amanda... He readied his stance as Buffy took her first shot. Nick met the thrust with a deflecting slash. Slowly at first, the couple soon got used to one another's moves, until they were engaged in an all-out sword fight. It was fifteen minutes later, when Buffy had Nick pinned to the hard floor, the tip of her lightweight broadsword pressed against the thin material of his shirt. He dropped his sword and held up his hand in mock-surrender. "Okay, okay! I'm dead, are you happy now?" Buffy giggled as she put her sword away and gave him a hand up. He groaned and put a hand to his back. "I'm getting too old for this kind of fighting..." "I'd watch what you say around this lot, Nick," Buffy grinned. "I'm the only one that's actually younger than you..." Catching Amanda glaring daggers at his chest, Nick backed up a little and held up his hands again. "I retract that statement! I'm good for at least another two thousand years..." "Oh, oh..." Buffy smirked as Amanda advanced on him. "Just how old do you think I am, Nick?!?!" The blond immortal almost growled. "Uhh..." The human backed up to the side of the room just as Amanda caught up to him, a devilish smile on her face. Recognizing the look, Nick decided that maybe it wasn't so bad having Amanda after him... "Take the room to your left!" Angelus called over to them as he picked up Nick's sword and held it comfortably in his grasp. "I'll take over with Buffy, just don't be more than an hour, or I'll come in after you!" Amanda shoved Nick through the doorway Angelus had spoken of with a delighted giggle. Buffy laughed outright at her friends' antics. She'd never before witnessed that kind of caring interaction between anyone older than her. Adults had always been so serious, always rushing and arguing. Her new life was a welcome breath of fresh air. She readied her sword as Angelus advanced upon her. She was still a little tired from her duel with Nick. Angelus knew this and went easy on her. After a few minutes, Buffy grew too tired to duel for much longer... The Slayer collapsed onto the cool floor of the sub-level area. Her lover just stared at her as she curled herself into a ball and pretended to go to sleep, a cute little smile on her face. Angelus chuckled at the adorable, pixie-like picture she made, mind you, the sword resting at her side completely ruined the look. He put his own sword away and picked up his lover and carried her over to one of the dark doorways. He used his elbow to turn on a light. Buffy gasped as she opened her eyes. The room before her was large and magnificent. The lights were dim and a light purple color. It reflected off the still wa- Splash! Buffy made her way to the surface and glared at a grinning Angelus. So much for her lover's sense of romance...she thought as she swept the wet hair from her eyes. The only good thing about the pool was the warmth of the water. Buffy looked around her as Angelus joined her in the water. She gasped as her eyes took stock of each element that made up the pool. It was deep, but it was a rock pool, the size of an average swimming pool. The water was a powder blue and the rocks were not too coarse. Beautiful ferns and lilies adorned the edge of the pool. Their very own island paradise... "You like?" Angelus murmured into her ear as his arms enveloped her small frame from behind. "It's fantastic..." she whispered in awe as she relaxed against him. "There are others..." he confided huskily as his hands caressed her warm skin. She turned around and faced him. "Others?" she asked. He nodded. "All different scenarios. This is my Island Paradise. The one that Nick and Amanda are in is my 'Cabin Fever'. She always did like a roaring fire..." She looked at him in shock. "All seven doorways are like this?" she gasped. He shook his head with a laugh. "No. Only six." "Oh, ha ha..." Buffy glared. He smiled. "No, the other one is something different altogether..." Part Twenty "Oh, come on, Angelus...let me see?" Buffy begged. "Nope. Maybe later..." he told her with a grin as they exited the 'Island Paradise' scene. "You know, you could have told me that you own this hotel..." she glared at him. Angelus chuckled. "After that shopping spree you went on? Ha! You'd send me broke in a matter of days." "Yeah, right." The two had dried off and were on their way back to the training area of the main room. Buffy gasped in surprise when a male voice came from nowhere. "I apologize for the interruption, Angelus, but I need to..." the couple turned to see Winters, the hotel's concierge and the vampire's friend gesture the their surroundings. Angelus nodded. "Sure. But the cabin's occupied." Winters arched an eyebrow. His boss had never let anyone else down there. Without questioning it, he went about his job. Buffy looked to her lover in confusion. Angelus led her over to the table where they sat and waited for the other two as he explained Winters' job. "He takes care of each of the rooms. Each day, he comes down here and makes sure that the plants have enough water and food and things like that. He also circulates air through here, not to mention artificial sunlight. "All of the plants and things here are really, nothing is fake. Of course, the fireplace in the room that Amanda and Nick are using has to be lit." Buffy nodded. "Cool..." Just as Angelus finished his explanation, Amanda and Nick appeared. Amanda laughed as Buffy let fly with catcalls and whistles. "I'm sure you two were off doing the same..." Buffy put her fingers to her lips and pretended to turn a key. "Angelus, the room was amazing!" Amanda complimented. "What's in the others?" Buffy pointed to the room she and Angelus had occupied. "That one's an island theme. But he won't let me explore the rest..." the Slayer shot her husband an accusing glare. The vampire kissed her with a laugh. "Don't worry, sweet, you'll find out soon enough." Winters entered the main room a couple of minutes later. He nodded to Angelus before leaving quietly. The vampire snapped his fingers and called the man back. "Yes?" Angelus grinned. "Make sure that the room is stocked for Amanda and Nick, as well..." he instructed, his hand indicating the couple to which he was referring. Winters looked them up and down before nodding, his mind turning fifty miles per hour with figures. "Oh, and for future reference, Amanda is immortal and Nick is human." The light-haired concierge arched an eyebrow before smiling, then quickly leaving. He knew exactly what his boss, and friend, wanted, and he was sure to comply with his wishes... "What was that all about?" he heard Angelus' wife ask in confusion as he left... *~*~* Angelus shrugged off his wife's question. "You'll find out soon enough." Amanda broke in. "It's time for a few more lessons, Buffy." Buffy screwed up her face. Angelus sighed, the look on his face clearly adoring as he watched Buffy pout. "Is this the part where you pull out little pie charts and diagrams on me that say: 'Blade goes here for successful decapitation'? Because I already know how to cut off heads..." The other immortal laughed. "I felt the same when Rebecca first taught me about being an immortal. No, this is different. Immortality is a game. You have to know your friends and enemies. "From what Angelus has told me of your life as the Slayer, it sounds much the same as my life. Do what you would as an average human, but know your friends and your enemies. There are those who would come after you just for your immortal power, so I've recently discovered... "But beware. Even your friends can become enemies in the wrong circumstances. I happened upon one of my dearest friends recently, who had been murdering people for vengeance that had been paid over one hundred years ago. In the end, it came down to my principles and loved ones, or him." Amanda looked Buffy straight in the eye. "Always protect the ones you love, Buffy, even from your friends, if they're a danger to your immortal life," the immortal warned. A fierce light entered Buffy eyes. "I will," she vowed. Continue 