| TITLE: Growing Up on the Hellmouth pt 4/? AUTHOR: Faery FEEDBACK: Glowing responses and * Constructive* criticism will be cherished like chocolate. Flames will be fed to Angelus to tear up. DISTRIBUTION: I would be honoured, just let me know first. PAIRING: Spike/Dawn RATING: Strong R for this one, I know�I'm a bad, rude girl DISCLAIMER: Joss owns all. Joss rules all. But if he ever wants to give up Spike I'd be more than happy to play with him for a while. AUTHOR'S NOTE: Again I would like to thank everyone who has sent me feedback. I still don't know if I've quite captured the characters' voices yet. Any comments? SUMMARY: What if Dawn had run back into the night after finding out that she is the key? Spike knelt at the end of the couch and gazed at the sleeping figure before him. Her breathing was too shallow for his liking, but her heart beat strongly. And she really did look like a kitten, all curled up in a ball at the other end of the couch. Spike could still taste her blood in his mouth and feel it coursing through his veins. It touched his undead heart to receive such a precious gift. Her trust and her esteem of him went a long way towards healing the hurt he had long carried around inside, the idea that he was not worthy. Wistfully he cast his eyes upon the marks on Dawn's body, both the ones of her own doing and the ones he had made. "Bugger!" Spike exclaimed with a start. As gently, but rapidly as he could, Spike extricated himself from the couch and ran to get his first aid supplies. He was so used to dealing with vampires or the Slayer. He'd forgot that normal human beings don't heal up as fast. Spike rummaged through his things until he found what he was looking for. Gauze, first aid tape, cotton balls and rubbing alcohol. Kneeling down beside the couch, he slowly turned Dawn so that she was lying flat on her back, with her wounded arm facing upwards. At the touch of the cotton ball full of rubbing alcohol, Dawn woke up, eyes snapping wide open. "Ow, Spike. What are you doing?" "Well kitten, we seemed to have overlooked something. You still have some nasty cut marks on your arm. It's all puffy and red. Real unhealthy looking. Unless you fancy a nasty infection and perhaps a bed alongside your mum's in the hospital, you'll let ol' Spike clean you up." With a grimace, Dawn kept her eyes focused on the stone ceiling above her. Spike tenderly cleaned out her arm and wrapped it in gauze. He also applied a dab of alcohol to the bite mark on her neck, but he stopped short of covering it up with gauze. He was proud of that mark, and wanted the world to see. "There now, luv. You make sure you keep these cuts nice and clean so they'll heal up proper. Too much scarring can ruin the fun of remarking," Spike said with a wink. "Spike, just why does a vampire have first aid supplies in his crypt?" "Well pet, you may not have realized it, but you just fulfilled a long-standing fantasy of mine. I've been dreaming of having some woman come to me, all bleedin' and hurt. Made my heart race to think of kissing it all better, then bandaging her up, nice and neat." "Yeah, I bet you were thinking about Buffy when you bought that stuff," Dawn said, a tinge of resentment filtering through her drowsy voice. "You want the truth? Yeah, I was thinking of the Slayer when I marched my pansey ass to the drug store and bought first aid supplies. But a bloke's allowed a few mistakes, ain't he? It doesn't matter *why* I bought the supplies. Just that I have them here for you. *You're* the one I kissed all better, and it's *you* I bandaged up all nice and neat. So no jealous snits...they don't become you." Dawn was too tired to argue. He seemed to be making sense. Dawn smiled, "so am I all better now?" she asked sleepily. "Yes luv, you'll be all ship shape by morning." "Mmm�that's nice." With that, Dawn seemed to drift right back into sleep. Spike placed a tender kiss on Dawn's forehead, and thinking her to be asleep, he let his head travel down to place a soft, butterfly kiss on her lips. He was too preoccupied to notice the momentary tensing of her body. Nor could he hear her suddenly very wide awake thoughts of "Oh my God! He kissed me! My very first kiss is from a vampire...I *have* to write this down!" Dawn kept her eyes shut though, and shortly thereafter Spike stood up. He walked over to the wall opposite the couch and leaned his forehead against the cool stone. The fingers of his one hand absently ran through his hair, while the other hand dangled at his waist. Spike just couldn't seem to calm himself down. He still felt tense and jittery, and his thoughts were racing. He longed for some kind of closure, some kind of release. From behind him, two pale arms snaked around his waist. Spike tensed as Dawn slipped herself between him and the wall. "I thought you were sleeping, pet." "I'm suddenly not very tired," Dawn answered with a sultry voice. Since when did Dawn's voice get so seductive, Spike pondered briefly before he became distracted with her fingernails raking up and down his chest in a harsh, rhythmic fashion. "Oh yeah, that's it," Spike mummered to the wall. Taking the initiative, Dawn pulled Spike's head down to hers. This was not the near-chaste kiss of before. This was a passionate battle of wills and tongues that Spike felt himself quickly losing. With a groan, Spike pulled Dawn to him. She wrapped her legs around his waist as if it were the most natural thing in the world for a 14 year old to do. Spike took a moment to run his hands over her naked flesh before savagely pushing into her against the wall. It had been so long since he'd taken a virgin, and she was so tight. He began to pump, slowly at first, but rapidly increasing in speed. With every thrust Spike called her name, "dawn� Dawn�*Dawn*�DAWN!" he chanted like a mantra. With a muted roar, he allowed himself the release he could not have taken earlier. Dawn watched wide-eyed from the couch, her mouth slightly ajar. She sat transfixed as Spike seemed to flex and unflex towards the wall in a rhythmic motion. His moans had snapped her from her teenage reverie concerning her first kiss, and him calling out her name repeatedly was enough to make her sit bolt upright on the couch to ensure she wasn't dreaming. When Spike reached his climax, Dawn finally mustered the courage to ask the almost redundant question burning in her mind. "Spike," she said softly, "wh�what are you doing?" Spike's fantasy ended with a jolt. He groaned again, but not with the fire of passion. This time it was the ice-cold groan of being caught in the act. The sound of Spike's zipper going up seemed to echo in the too-quiet tomb. Dawn watched as Spike discreetly wiped his hand on a shroud before turning to face her. He sat down next to her on the couch, a chagrined look on his face. "Dawnie, I don't want you to be mad at me. You know how I made you feel earlier, right?" Spike spoke as if speaking to a very young child. "Seeing you like that, well, it made me all hot and bothered. It's not in my nature to go to bed...unsatisfied." Realization spread over Dawn's face. "Spike, I...I'm so sorry. But I ...I can't give you that. Not yet. I'm just not ready." Tears were welling up in her eyes. It was all too much. The feelings he had caused had made her feel wonderful. But in all of her self- discovery, she had never once thought that he might want something in return. "I must seem so selfish, but this is just too much for me!" Sobs shook her body as fat teardrops fell from her eyes. Spike pulled her head to his chest and smoothed her hair with his hands. "Shhh�shhh. It's alright, poppet. It's alright. If you don't mind me...helping myself along...sometimes, then we'll be just fine. I promise, I will never, ever hurt you, or push you beyond your limits." "Really? You're not mad at me?" "Oh no, Dawnie. I'm not mad. You gave me quite a gift tonight. You trusted me; you gave me your blood. And the way you gaze up at me, with those big, wide eyes of yours...well, it means the world to me. What kind of daft fool would I be to give that up? If I just wanted to shag, I'd go crawl to Harmony. The way you look up to me, that means so much more than a thousand easy lays." Dawn sniffled and then smiled. "Well gee, I think I'll take that as a compliment." "Damn right you'd better. I was a poet once you know. You should bask in my superiour way with words. I await your glowing admiration." Spike grinned at her and she burst into a fit of giggles, then yawned loudly. "You look tired. How's about this, luv. Why don't we sleep together...no don't you go raisin' your eyebrows at me. I mean sleep, nothing more. I think we could both fancy a rest after the night's activities." "That would be nice Spike." Dawn smiled as Spike lay down on the couch. She curled up next to him, her fingers idly tracing circles on his chest before they both dozed off into a deep slumber. Faery |