COURE DELLA NOTTE Part 3
(The Heart of the Night)
by 1stRab-id�I still love you,� Spike said softly as Dawn disappeared around the corner, �That hasn�t changed. Killing me won�t change how you feel either.�
�I don�t feel anything,� Buffy said with complete honesty. She was totally numb.
The Slayer�s body was tense against Spike�s back. Her breathing was short and shallow. The vampire could sense a battle raging within her soul. Buffy was being torn in two by equally powerful forces. She wanted him dead and yet she couldn�t bring herself to kill him. She longed for the deathblow and still her arm would not make the final stroke.
�You can�t deny it, can you?� Spike asked, �You love me, too much to kill me. You never say it but I know that you do.�
�Aawwrrrhhh!� Buffy roared removing her blade from his throat and thrusting him away from her so swiftly and brutally that he staggered to one knee.
Spike dropped and shoulder rolled. Recovering his footing quickly, he turned to face the Slayer. She was panting and her eyes were filled with a primitive rage.
�No love, no weakness, and no mercy,� The first Slayer said speaking through Buffy, �YOU MUST DIE!�
Spike broke into a run as his beloved came at him again in all her savagery. She was death incarnate, a force of instinctive fury. Within a few hundred yards, Spike realized that he couldn�t out run her. He needed to find someplace to make a stand. Turning up a dimly lighted footpath, he put on his best speed and headed for the deserted Stafford dormitory.
~*~*~*~
Arriving at the dorm, Buffy moved cautiously up the front steps. The door was hanging drunkenly from its hinges. She had seen Spike slip into the darkened interior of the building. Senses on full alert, sword at the ready, she followed him.
The vampire struck at her out of the darkness just as she entered the foyer. Her sword went flying and he sprang instantly away. Buffy could hear the drag of metal on stone as Spike appropriated her weapon. She caught his outline against the windows but didn�t have time to target on him before he tossed her blade into the open elevator shaft. It clattered into the sub-basement, two stories below.
�Now, maybe we can have a civilized conversation,� Spike said but the Slayer was in no mood to talk.
She tackled him almost sending them both after her sword. Spike shoved Buffy hard, pushing her away. He took a blind swing at her and connected. She sailed across the room and into a pile of construction materials. Two by Fours, glass panels and tools scattered as she crashed down. The Slayer came out of the mess with a wooden stake in her hand. Spike took off for the staircase in no mood to test his ability to survive being staked by his spiritual anchor. Dracula had never mentioned what to do if your �one true thing� was what was trying to kill you.
�You are going to see reason, Baby,� The blond vampire yelled from the first landing. He continued upward, taking the stairs three at a time, �I�ll hurt you if I have to but you are going to listen to me.�
�It doesn�t matter,� Buffy said a few steps below him.
�Nothing you say can change this,� She added in a normal tone of voice, �This is our destiny.�
�Bollocks!� Spike snapped turning to face her across the second story landing, �This is you hiding from your feelings. Don�t talk to me about destiny.�
�This was bound to happen,� Buffy insisted, �How can you be so blind? Vampire and Slayer? It�s madness and it will end just like it did with Angel.�
�Don�t you dare compare me to your undead-ex, Pet!� Spike said in sudden anger. �I ain�t some neutered lapdog. And I ain�t going to slink off to L.A., no matter how unreasonable you get.�
Buffy stopped and stared up at him. She didn�t know what to say. Dangerous emotions were stirring inside her again as she and Spike fell back into their old patterns. The taunting words, the deadly strike of fang or stake, it was comfortingly familiar. But there was always another message lurking just beneath the surface. Their sparring masked a multitude of feelings, heat, desire, and lately even tenderness and love.
Sensing that he was beginning to get to Buffy, the vampire decided to change his tactics and throw her even further off guard.
�Isn�t this nice?� He said sprinting up a few more stairs, �You and I alone at last. I think we have the whole place to ourselves. Feel free to scream if the mood takes you.�
�I won�t be the one screaming,� Buffy growled springing after him. She kicked up and out from the hip.
�Funny that! You know I�ve always pegged you as a screamer!� Spike said easily blocking the Slayer�s kick and twisting her foot so that she was forced to back flip away from him down the staircase.
�Not that I ever heard a peep out of you,� He continued conversationally, �In all the time I stood outside the window while you shagged G.I. Joe Finn. But I figure maybe he didn�t come with the necessary accessories to get the job done proper. Him lacking the Kung-fu grip and all.�
Cartwheeling upward again, Buffy brought her stake around in an arc toward Spike�s chest. Seconds before she imbedded it in his flesh the vampire�s demonic personality came to the front. He struck at the point of her weapon batting it aside. Her stake shattered on the wall behind him. The Slayer was carried into his arms by her own momentum. Spike looked down on his unexpected captive, meeting her green eyes with his feral yellow eyes ones.
�Hi, Honey!� The demon smirked, �I�m home!�
Buffy grimaced and slammed a knee up into his groin. At the same time, she threw her weight sideways over-balancing the vampire. Spike didn�t slacken his grip as they fell the four steps back to the landing. Still locked together they rolled against the balcony railing.
The half-constructed supports gave way beneath their combined weight and they plunged into the darkened stairwell. Vampire and Slayer plummeted together to the tiled lobby floor. As they fell, Buffy squirmed free of her assailant. Twisting in the air like a cat, she pushed off of Spike�s body using that leverage to right herself so that they hit the ground with her on top.
Spike landed hard and Buffy, thudding into him a nano-second later, left him momentarily dazed. The Slayer recovered instantly. Already targeting on a shaft of shattered wooden railing, she trod on Spike like a rug, digging into his abdomen with her sharp heels as she sprang away. Spike snarled his rage. He lashed out with one hand clawing at her as she dove clear of him. The Vampire�s nails raked over Buffy�s body barely grazing it but lighting tiny fires all along her skin and tearing away the front of her delicate dress.
In another time and place, Spike would have been mesmerized by the savage vision that spun to confront him. Buffy had come up from her forward roll with a stake in hand. She was nearly naked. Her blond hair formed a tangled mane about her shoulders. Her eyes were full of fight and fire. The tattered remains of her slip dress fluttered around her like a cape exposing the admirable craftsmanship of Mother Nature. Only a few threads of blood and the beige of her satin striped bikini underwear broke the bare expanse of Buffy�s tawny skin.
His girl had apparently abandoned the concept of a bra for the evening, Spike thought wryly. He, also, privately conceded that with muscle-tone like the Slayer�s a bra wasn�t a strict necessity. Quick as that thought came to him, Buffy was swinging the stake at his heart. Unable to gain his feet in time, he rolled under Buffy�s strike, hitting her mid-shin and throwing her off balance.
As Buffy stumbled sideways, one of her high heels snapped off and she went to her knees. It was the opening Spike needed. With an inner surge of delight, he came up swinging. He landed one fist hard to the side of Buffy�s head spinning her around to face him. As she fell backward, her stake slipped from her fingers. She landed unceremoniously on her back. Spread eagle in front of him, she fumbled blindly for her weapon. Spike stalked toward her, his mouth lolling open in a self-satisfied grin.
�What�s the matter, baby?� He said lazily, �Didn�t wear your dancing shoes?�
�Yeah, this outfit was definitely a mistake!� Buffy agreed trying not to grimace as her hand brushed her stake and sent it rolling further away.
In no particular hurry to end things, Spike ran his appreciating gaze over her. Buffy was suddenly aware of her nakedness and of Spike�s undeniably masculine presence. A tingle of embarrassment shot through her igniting her blush. Fighting down the urge to cover herself, Buffy willed her body to relax. She opened herself to his scrutiny, lying back and letting her knees fall apart. Spike swallowed convulsively.
�High-heels,� Buffy continued softly, sliding out of her damaged shoe, �What was I thinking? You never take me anyplace nice.�
�NICE!� Spike couldn�t believe what he was hearing. He straightened slightly and hissed out the word again. �NICE! You don�t want nice, Pet. You�ve never wanted it�nice.�
And finally, he came into range. With her remaining spiked heel Buffy kicked out connecting with Spike�s shoulder sending him flying. Continuing the flow of her movement, the Slayer flipped to her feet and with a twist of her ankle popped her other shoe off. Spike surged back at her. They circled each other looking for weaknesses, both wary and weary.
�I know you, Buffy,� Spike continued as if they were having a civilized conversation.
�Oh, Brother! Here it comes!� The Slayer said shaking the hair out of her eyes, �Spike the Psychologist is in. Lay down your nickel and he�ll lay that Dark Side Wisdom on you.�
�Maybe you can hide it from yourself,� Spike nodded, �But you can�t hide it from me. I know what you want.�
�Let me guess,� Buffy said her voice rich with sarcasm, �I want it rough? I want to play the games that draw blood? I want a little leather clad domination?�
She paused, narrowing her eyes, and swept the blond vampire with an appraising look before continuing, �Or to sum up�I want you!�
Spike had gone still as a statue. He took in a long shuddering breath as if his dead lungs suddenly needed air. After a moment, he gave a quick dip of his head. It was a Victorian gesture of agreement and a gentleman�s affirmation of a well placed hit. Buffy bared her teeth in a mirthless grin. She hated him in that moment. Hated his pretense of normalcy. Hated the effect he had on her even now that she knew he hadn�t changed.
�You really are pathetic, William!� She spat and spun out a kick at his head.
�You unspeakable Bitch!� Spike snarled ducking. He was suddenly ashamed of his weakness for her and bitterly aware of her ability to hurt him.
Punching wildly, he landed a hard right to the small of Buffy�s back. She winced at the pain but quickly recovered turning to face Spike even as he leaped at her. They exchanged blows, matching each other strike for strike. Bobbing, weaving, fighting, they danced. Their footwork was so intricate and their bodies so in harmony that every move seemed choreographed. They were opposites yet forever united, man and woman, living and dead, young and old, silver and gold, the blazing Sun and the cool Moonlight.
An hour later they clung to each other like amorous drunks at closing time. Recovering from his left to her cheek, Buffy clawed her way up Spike�s body. She was holding on to him and simultaneously holding him at bay. She felt sick, dizzy. Her knees were buckling. Spike was no better off he was swaying and had trouble focusing. Buffy levered against him and he cried out as a dislocated rib twisted in his back.
The Slayer used Spike�s weight to steady herself as she brought her knee up between them. She missed the vampire�s groin by a good margin this time as he suddenly doubled over. Her knee glanced off of Spike�s chest and sent him reeling backwards. He held on to her. They staggered together, leaning into one another for support, seeking their center of gravity. After several feet they stumbled to a stop. Foreheads pressed together, arms braced, bodies begging for relief, Buffy and Spike held their positions in opposition.
�Why didn�t I kill you years ago?� He asked finally as if he really wanted an answer.
�You had a chip in your brain,� She reminded.
Spike wanted to backhand her for that but he knew if he let go of her now he would fold up like a string-less marionette. He needed to buy a little more time. He needed to keep Buffy talking.
�It wasn�t the Bloody chip!� He growled through gritted teeth, ��and you know it!�
Buffy could feel the familiar cold stirring in her gut, the tightening in her groin. She wondered why Spike made her feel this way. How it was even possible to feel this way. To loathe him and all he stood for, to want to hurt him and at the same time to crave him. She knew she should chew him up, spit him out and walk away. But he still made her mouth water, made her want to swallow.
�All I know is that you betrayed me.� Buffy said finally, �As soon as the chip was out. Just like I always knew you would.�
�Yeah,� Spike sighed, �Always.�
�Oh, don�t you DARE try to make me feel sorry for you!� She berated him, �You are a killer. Merciless and cold-blooded�a soul-less reptile!�
�For the eight-hundredth time,� Spike said, spacing out the words for dramatic effect. �I�Did�NOT�Kill�THAT�Girl!�
�Yeah,� Buffy said, �And you�re NOT trying to kill me either. This is all some kind of comical misunderstanding.�
�I don�t want to kill you, Luv,� Spike said soberly, �You know I don�t.�
He pulled back slightly to stare at Buffy meeting her gaze steadily until, feeling a physical pain from the intimacy, she broke eye-contact.
�I seem to know a lot,� She said looking at the floor, �Tell me, Spike, do I know what it is you DO want?�
Spike stopped pushing her away and instead fell forward into her body. The sudden change in dynamic energy brought Slayer and Vampire together. Buffy gasped as Spike slammed into her. The sound she made caused something to clench and twist in his chest. He ran his cheek along her jaw line. Purring, he nuzzled her neck. He breathed in the sweat and sweetness in her hair before responding.
�I want�� He whispered close to her ear, ��to Sire you.�
Buffy tensed. She wrenched back fighting to break away from him but Spike had her now. He was holding her in a vise grip pinning her arms at her sides; keeping her close. His nails were biting into the flesh just above her elbows. He lowered his mouth and began raining small kisses along her bare shoulder working his way back toward her throat.
�I want to make you bleed,� He said, punctuating his words with tiny kisses, �And I want to bleed for you. I want to open myself and spill into your mouth. I want to make you mine, to feel you drink me down.�
�You want to make me a vampire!?!�
Buffy couldn�t believe what she was hearing. She couldn�t believe what the words were doing to her either. She felt a trembling weakness in her joints and a bloom of wetness between her legs. She could visualize all to well rising out of the ground and falling into his arms.
�I want to give myself to you,� He corrected gently, �Eternally! To hunt, to kill, to feed, and to be with you. I love you, Buffy. Together, we could rule the night, you and I.�
The Slayer�s eyes flashed. She was furious, appalled�and horribly tempted. She brought her hands up and placed her palms flat on Spike�s abdomen. Under his tee shirt, his body felt cool and tight. His muscles twitched beneath her fingertips.
�I already rule the night!� She whispered savagely as she clawed into him.
Spike roared out in pain and rage thrusting Buffy away. She tried to take advantage of the opening but he was on top of her in seconds. He grabbed her wrist twisting her arm up and back. She gasped. He was demonic now, his face distorted, his eyes yellow, his teeth sharp. Keeping her hand behind her, he lifted her up swinging her easily into his arms. Buffy was helpless, denied purchase for retaliation. Spike held her like a new bride about to be carried across the threshold.
�No!� He growled smiling down at her with a mouth full of ragged fangs, �You don�t rule anything! Not until you�ve bested me!�
Then he was moving toward the staircase, still holding her close. Buffy fought down her panic. She could feel herself grow cold as Spike carried her up the first flight of stairs. The Slayer knew that she had to stay calm, keep her wits about her and search for some escape. She figured there was a slim chance that Spike intended to throw her off the roof. Her mind veered away from the other possibilities presented by an abandoned dorm. And veered back on course as the vampire turned down a hallway. Without pausing, he kicked in the first door they came to. It flew open revealing a single room with a single bed.
�You have GOT to be kidding!� Buffy said her fear evaporating as swiftly as it had come over her, �You can�t rape a Slayer! Didn�t they teach you anything in Vampire School?�
�RAPE!?!� Spike said scoffing, �Oh, pu-leez! That is just so�.typical!�
He morphed back into his human face and tossed her into the center of the bed. Buffy bounced a bit, steadied herself, but made no effort to scramble away. She was frankly too shocked to react. She was amazed that he�d freed her so easily.
�You think I can�t smell the desire on you, Buffy?� He continued bitterly, �You think, I don�t know that you want this as much as I do.
�I don�t�� Buffy began.
�Save the explanations!� He said cutting her off. �I don�t want to hear you justify this. It doesn�t matter to me anymore. I am tired of trying to prove myself to you. Especially, when it�s just so much easier for you to see me as a monster. Keeps you on the job, dunnit? Makes sliding a sliver of wood into my chest a bit less of a sodden tragedy?�
�You�re the one who brought all this on!� Buffy yelped, stung by the unfairness of his accusations and furious at the truth of them. �You crossed the line. You killed that girl!�
�Say that�s true,� Spike purred slinking toward the bed, �Say I did kill her. What of it? I�m a vampire remember? A monster, a cold-blooded killing machine, just like you said. I�m no better than any other predator. You can�t blame me for doing what comes naturally. But YOU! You should know better, Babe! And yet here you are lusting after the likes of me.�
�I�I d-don�t lust!� Buffy stammered as he closed in on her.
�No?� Spike asked softly and to Buffy�s astonishment he quietly slipped into the bed, stretching out full length next to her.
Making no attempt to touch her, Spike watched the Slayer closely forcing himself to remain still. He tuned into her heartbeat savoring the rapid pulse of it. He harbored no illusions about Buffy�s ability to kill him. She was his anchor and she could so easily cut him free of this existence. He knew that he was as close to being one with the dust bunnies as he had ever been. Mustering every ounce of self-control he possessed, Spike waited for her to make the next move.
Buffy thought seriously about rabbitting. She had never been as terrified as she was by this new development. She wondered what Spike was playing at. She could so easily kill him. He was offering no resistance. The Slayer in her cried out for a renewal of the violence between them, the woman in her cried out for something much more dangerous. The woman won.
Buffy reached out placing a tentative hand to his chest. Spike remained still, as if carved from marble. His only reaction was to glance up and meet her eye to eye. His gaze was neutral, not mocking or challenging, and barely even questioning. Buffy leaned forward pressing the issue. She slid her hand down to the bottom of his tee shirt and slowly worked her fingers under the fabric. She savored the rough denim of his jeans, the hard leather band of his belt and finally the silken smoothness of his skin against her fingertips.
Eyelids flickering closed, Spike held on to his stillness as Buffy�s hand stroked over him. He could feel the heat increasing in her as she touched him. He took a quick breath and was flooded with the scent of his Slayer. She smelled of lavender and sunlit meadows. She was far too close for comfort. In spite of his resolve not to move, Spike shifted slightly. The sudden tightness in his groin was just too much to ignore.
Buffy reveled in his involuntary response. She grinned with her mouth open, her tongue pink against her teeth, in unconscious imitation of Spike�s frequent wolfish look. She knew the vampire was watching her again, through slitted eyes. Let him, Buffy thought suddenly. Let him know what I can do to him.
Making eye contact, she ran light claws over Spike�s body moving inexorably downward. When she reached his jeans she continued dragging her nails toward his thigh sweeping carelessly over the swell of his desire. Spike writhed in pleasure so intense it was an agony. He rose up against Buffy�s hand and she pulled away instantly. He fell back against the bed, gasping. If she left him now Spike knew he would hunt her down like an animal.
But Buffy had no intention of leaving. She was far too fascinated by this newfound power. She watched as Spike fought for self-mastery. Waiting until he was back in control, Buffy leaned close and let her hair brush over his face. She kissed his mouth, and then she ran her tongue, soft and light, over his lips. When he didn�t respond, she reached down and unbuttoned his fly with one hand. Spike�s eyes were closed again, other than the unconscious tremor in his muscles, the push of his erection under her fingers, he gave no sign that he was aware of her.
Slowly, with torturous deliberation, Buffy began undressing him. She tugged roughly sometimes, ripping away cloth when need be, but for the most part she worked gently. Spike did not hinder or assist her. When he was naked, Buffy stood back and studied the contours of his body. He was so different from any other man she had known. Not as massive as Riley or Angel but more defined than Parker. And frankly, much better endowed.
�Wow, there�s a revelation!� Buffy thought mocking herself.
It wasn�t like she had never noticed Spike�s natural gift before. For the past three years, every time they were in close proximity it had inevitably come up. Fighting with him or holding him close, she had sometimes been aware of nothing else but the size of his erection pressed against her. At first it had alarmed and disgusted her but later she had been more than a little in love with it.
He wasn�t circumcised, of course, but then neither was Angel. Buffy knew what to expect from a Vampire and in many ways Spike was more appealing than a human male. Like the rest of his kind, he didn�t sweat, or urinate, or defecate or harbor smelly bacterial colonies but unlike most vampires, Spike bathed regularly. Standing over him, Buffy could pick up the faint scent of dark amber that fragranced his body soap.
Through barely parted eyelids, Spike watched the Slayer study his body. She stood at the bedside her eyes devouring him, seemingly unable to look away. Then with a tiny sigh, she shrugged out of her dress. He watched the material slide along her skin and heard it puddle on the floor. A half-second later she stepped out of her bikinis, and Spike had to wrestle down his desire to attack her.
After what seemed like an eternity to the vampire, the need to touch him overcame all of Buffy�s innate caution. She leaned forward, bracing one knee on the bed and ran her hand up his inner thigh and down to cradle him intimately in her palm. Spike convulsed under her as she toyed with him. She played her fingers back and forth until he was shuddering helplessly. Then splaying the fingers of her other hand against his chest she brought her mouth down over him. In one continuous movement Buffy ran her tongue along the length of his shaft savoring the taste of him. Reaching the tip, she licked away the glistening pearl of wetness that had formed there. She gave a soft murmur of appreciation, like it was the last drop of her favorite ice cream.
�Buffy�� Spike whispered hoarsely his voice resonating with his need for her.
She was on him like a lioness springing to the kill. She crouched over him grabbing at his wrists as he reached for her, holding them tight, pressing them back into the pillow on either side of his head. The strength in her was stunning. Spike knew he would have to exert himself fully to break free but he didn�t really want his freedom. He wanted Buffy to win this round, to take him down, like they both knew she could. Like they both knew she had always wanted to.
�Do it, Baby!� Spike thought meeting the primal intensity of her gaze without blinking.
And she did! Rocking her body back she took him inside. He was a perfect fit, filling her like no one before him ever had. Buffy was as shocked as she was thrilled at this turn of events. She remembered their fight, the reason for it, and the fact that she had sworn never to do what she was currently doing. None of that seemed to matter to her. All that mattered was the satisfaction that Spike alone could give her. No one else understood her, appreciated her, and loved her as completely as he did. No one else could endure the onslaught of her unfettered appetite.
Despite not needing oxygen, the vampire was breathing raggedly now, biting down on his lower lip as Buffy engulfed him. During his time with Dru, Spike had held to the spirit of fidelity rather than the letter, and so he had known a number of women, living and undead, virginal and experienced. In fact, he�d once had a Bangkok whore; he would have sworn was half succubus. Her talent had been so great that it purchased her 6 weeks of additional life. And yet, nothing in the past 125 years had prepared him for the Slayer.
She was a Bloody force of nature; a tsunami, washing over him. He was flooded with sensation, from the play of her muscles around him to the heat of her breath by his ear, to the swell of emotion in his chest. He was drowning in her as she raged around him heedless of the toll she was taking. He began chanting her name like an incantation, a one-word plea for release. Yet, when the release came, he was totally unprepared for the intensity of it. The French call the moment of climax, le petit mort, the small death, and with Buffy, Spike finally understood why. Nothing short of his own death transcended the experience.
It was over. Shuddering, breathing deeply, Buffy lay against Spike�s chest and slowly she became aware of him beneath her. She shifted and froze, not believing her senses. Buffy knew that they had come together. She had felt Spike spill into her like a cool rush of water. But, now, as she moved around him she could feel no change in his rock hardness. She clenched her inner muscles, checking her perceptions before glancing questioningly up at him. Spike raised his scarred brow slightly and gave her a truly wicked grin.
�I wanna have my turn, Pet!� He said.
�How�?� She began.
�It�s like the breathing,� Spike responded and Buffy understood. It was an involuntary process under his conscious control. Not his complete control, however, she remembered with a grin of her own.
Buffy�s unspoken thoughts provoked him to action. With a quick twist of his hips, Spike flipped her onto her back, switching their positions. He buried his hands in her hair and surged against her. Buffy cried out at the violence of it and Spike covered her mouth with his own cutting off the sound of her screams. Once, twice, a half dozen times he lunged into her, going deeper each time, until, desperate for oxygen, Buffy pushed him away. He pulled all the way out of her then, kneeling between her legs with one cool hand resting just above her navel.
�No!� She pleaded, reaching for him.
�Be still, Luv,� He said softly with a teasing challenge in his voice, �Try not to move.�
�You, Bastard!� Buffy thought but she forced herself to relax, acknowledging that it was indeed his turn to take charge.
It became a game of bait and switch. Every time Buffy squirmed, twitched or moaned, Spike would let go of her, leaving her shaking as she fought to control her reactions. Using his hands, his teeth, his tongue, he teased out the secrets of her body. He explored her, discovering erogenous zones she�d had no idea she possessed.
Finally, when Buffy felt like she would burn away if he didn�t, Spike slipped one hand between her legs. Stroking over her, spreading the mix of their fluids under his palm, he sought out the small hard treasure nestled in her softness. Finding it with his thumb he rubbed over it in tight quick circles, shattering Buffy�s pretense of self-control.
�Spike! Oh, GOD!� She gasped arching up under his hand.
This time Spike didn�t release her but instead leaned in, pressing his body along her left side. Buffy could feel him hard against her thigh as his mouth closed on the tip of her left breast. He suckled at her for what seemed like eternity. Running his tongue over her as his thumb continued its relentless circling below. Buffy began to writhe, the wetness spreading out of her, until Spike took her nipple firmly between his teeth. Then biting down just hard enough that she dare not move for fear of injury, he plunged two fingers up into her. The Slayer screamed in despair at this exquisite torture. Her hands clawed at the bedding as Spike kept his thumb in place stroking her inside and out, driving her to the brink of climax. And then�he stopped.
Just short of satisfying her, he stopped. Buffy�s snarl of frustration, promised him torments not even Drusilla could have envisioned. He chuckled deep in his throat. The sound drew Buffy�s eye and they locked gazes as he held his hand up between them. Slowly, not breaking eye contact for a second, Spike licked his sticky fingers clean. Buffy could easily imagine his tongue sliding over her the same way. He had intended to fulfill that fantasy but the taste, the sight and the scent of her was finally too much for him.
Buffy was open, wet and more than ready. Spike shifted his position, pushing apart her legs. Kneeling between the Slayer�s thighs, he slid his hands along the contours of her body, over the full curve of her hips, savoring the power in them. Cupping his hands around her smooth behind he lifted Buffy up to meet him as he thrust forward. She took him to the hilt, all the way in, and he groaned. They rocked back and forth, pulling apart, surging together. After a moment Spike established a cadence, lunging with the Slayer, sliding out and slamming back into her. This was no tentative exploration. This was a total invasion.
The first time, with Buffy on top, they�d simply had sex, deliciously gratifying sex. This time they fucked. There was no other word for it. The harsh, guttural sound was a perfect description of Spike�s desperately intense penetration and Buffy�s full body participation. The heat and the friction and the fire between them threatened to boil the blood in their veins. The Slayer had never known such raw passion.
Even under the influence of malevolent spirits, Riley had invariably been a gentle, considerate lover. Angel had, of course, taken Buffy�s virginity slowly and carefully. He hadn�t allowed himself the luxury of passion. And Parker, the weasel, had been a perfect gentleman. Spike was certainly no gentleman. He was a demonic lover, in a position, at long last, to satisfy his dark lust for the Slayer. And he fucked her until the world started spinning around them.
Her senses blunted by Spike�s relentless assault, Buffy noticed the change in him a second before he struck at her throat. Quick as he was, she was quicker. She grabbed his head between both hands halting his forward motion so that his fangs snapped closed on thin air. He hissed and snarled and twisted like a serpent in his effort to reach her but Buffy held him off. She rode out his hunger, wrapping her legs tight around his hips, torquing against him and meeting his yellow gaze without fear. It was as savage a battle as they had ever engaged in and they ended it together. Buffy climaxed releasing her hold on Spike, just as he, in the midst of his blood lust, came into her and came back to his humanity.
�Buffy, Buffy,� He was murmuring at her throat as she returned to awareness, �I love you so much. Don�t ever let me hurt you. I�d die if I ever hurt you!�
Buffy levered him away from her. She searched his eyes and saw the truth in them. She knew then that Spike would literally die without her. Knew also that he hadn�t killed Alice Peters. Not because he had changed, not because it was wrong but simply because his love wouldn�t allow it. His beloved was his sovereign. Her will was his law. Spike was a demon and the instinct to kill was strong in him but Buffy finally understood that his love for her was stronger.
�You�re mine!� she said fiercely, asserting her mastery over him.
Spike melted into her, submitting completely. He gave himself over to the Slayer, acknowledging her possession of him and almost weeping with the joy of it.
�Yes!� he said between deep kisses, �Oh God, Yes!�
They were both lost and they knew it. There was no fight left in either of them. No more room for denial of what was, what had always been, their destiny. Their love was a supernatural force in it�s own right. Existing outside time and space, it allowed them to span the gulf between good and evil. They moved as one, two halves of a whole, seeking union. They could not seem to get close enough to one another. Legs, bodies, arms, fingers, tongues, their very existence intertwining, Buffy and Spike made love.
And sometime during that last slow dance, Spike opened a vein in his neck and Buffy drank. It was the final act of surrender for both of them, as she accepted his seed in her mouth, took him into her fully and swallowed him down. Spike passed into unconsciousness giving up his very being to her, letting her drain the strength of his demon from him. Buffy felt him slipping away, his hold on her grew slack and he fell back unto the bed. Fear shot through her. Spike couldn�t die like this, could he? Not from blood loss? But quick on the heels of that thought came the knowledge that the vampire was supposed to drink first. Drink before she did.
Buffy gripped her lover�s shoulders and shook him savagely but Spike was non-responsive. One of his hands was under her the other had fallen palm up on the bed, fingers relaxed as in death. His eyes were open but unfocused and deep within them pulsed a garnet redness. Buffy had no way to know that the same light was glowing in her own eyes. She only knew that Spike needed blood and if he took it from her they would not stop until he had drained her completely. If she allowed him to drink, Buffy knew, she would become a vampire.
Surprisingly, it wasn�t self-preservation that kept her from opening a vein but rather the remembrance of Spike�s need not to hurt her. Galvanized into action, Buffy scrambled for clothing. She pulled on Spike�s pants, turning up the cuffs and tightening the belt to make them fit. She ripped a long strip from her tattered dress and wound it around her breasts like a scarf. Then bare foot she ran, heading for town where she knew there were two pints of A-negative. In a cold storage safe, in the floor of the Magic Box training room, Giles had a stash of the Slayer�s own blood. It was an emergency transfusion supply and only Buffy and her Watcher were aware of its existence.
The crimson robed figures waited until the Slayer had disappeared into the night before entering the dorm. They glided up the stairs and into the room where Spike lay helpless. Surrounding him they chanted, then as one they lifted him up. Wrapping him in a white sheet, they carried him down into the basement of the building.
~*~*~*~
Spike sensed the soft warmth of a body next to him. Buffy! The name had almost no meaning to him but he knew it was the word for what he needed. He was literally starving to death. And now, like mother�s home cooking, he could smell the sweetness in the air, the faint whiff of Summers� blood. Blindly, he reached out to the living food source. Desperate for any sustenance he barely noted the dimensions of the figure he pulled into his arms. The girl�s long dark hair cascaded around him as he sank his teeth into her neck to drink.
It was like expecting fresh water and gulping down rancid milk. Horridly wrong, the taste of Dawn�s blood twisted up his gut. Spike retched and shoved his young friend violently away, spitting out her blood without swallowing any of it. He tried to focus on Dawn�s face. He knew she was alive but he couldn�t tell how badly she was injured. He only knew that there was blood. And, now, more blood was trickling from the puncture wounds in her neck. Wrestling with his hunger, Spike struggled to fight free of the fog in his head.
�He won�t eat!� a voice said out of the mist, �See how he pushes his food away!�
�He MUST eat!� another voice said, �She can not manifest without the blood!�
�Bring the blood of an animal,� Saul�s voice commanded.
�PIG�S BLOOD!?!� a shocked chorus of voices sang out in protest, �Sacrilege!�
�We must give HER something to sustain the conception or the process will fail before it starts,� Saul snapped impatiently. �Once he begins to feed he will not be able to stop HER from growing more powerful. Time enough for the blood of the innocent when she is come to the table, my brothers.�
Spike wondered whom they were talking about and when they would go away and let him die in peace. He could feel a gaping emptiness inside his gut as if an essential part of his being had been carved away. He knew that he needed to feed but he couldn�t bring himself to drink from Dawn. He wanted to save her and himself but he didn�t have the strength to fight or even to open his eyes.
He curled up in a ball and waited for the empty feeling to consume him. Unseen hands lifted his shoulders and held his head. The lip of a silver bowl was pressed against his mouth and a draught of pig�s blood washed over his tongue. Convulsively, Spike swallowed the fluid down. Warmth spread into his limbs, strengthening him and he grabbed at the bowl to drink deep again.
�There now,� Saul�s voice spoke close by his ear, �That�s it! Drink, blessed one, and let HER share in the bounty of this world. You are the vessel of rebirth, give HER your strength as SHE grows in your body.�
Deep inside of Spike, the empty place began to fill with the swirling embryonic blackness of a new and hideous life.
~*~*~*~
At the exact moment that Spike took his first drink, Buffy wrenched open the training room door. The room was full of people. She looked at them in shock barely recognizing Willow and Giles before she was hit with an intense swirl of nausea. The world tipped drunkenly around her. Buffy sank to her knees in the doorway. She felt as if something was sucking the life from her chest. A red mist blinded her and she struggled to focus through it.
�Buffy?� Giles� voice cried out and then as she raised her head to look up toward him, �Dear Lord! Look at her eyes!�
�Yes!� Quentin Travers� voice responded, �As I feared, we are too late.�
�She�s been with Spike?� Giles asked, not believing it, �She�s�accepted him?�
�She has taken his blood,� Travers� confirmed dispassionately, �The aspect of the demon has passed into her body. There is nothing that can save her now.�
�Well, well, well B!� Faith�s voice added, �So you finally did the undead deed once too often? Looks like you got the morning sickness from hell, girlfriend.�
�Okay,� Buffy sighed from her fetal position on the floor, �Psychotic House-call! This can not be good!�