Disclaimer: Everything BtVS and AtS is owned by Joss, ME, and all them over there. Everything Anita Blake is owned by Laurell K. Hamilton

Chapter 9

"Mine," he growled.

Willow didn't move. She could feel the fear coursing through her body. She could hear her own heart beating. She stared at the other vampire for a moment. He wanted to drain her. To kill her. Then she felt a fang being grazed over her neck. Willow wanted to scream and run. Not that she would get very far. <This is Spike. The vampire that's been taking care of you.> For the first time in a long while she was scared. Scared of dying. Scared of what might happen. And if she had to admit...scared of not ever seeing Spike again.

The younger vampire stared at him for a moment before lunging at Willow. Spike pushed her out of the way and reached forward, grabbing onto the other vampire's throat. "You NEVER touch what's mine," he said with venom. Tearing out his throat, he watched as the dust floated to the ground. He slipped back into his human visage and turned around to Willow.

He watched Willow for a moment. She had her arms wrapped around her, trying to comfort what she was feeling. Her eyes were wide and fear was coming off her in waves. He walked over to her, careful not to make any sudden movements. "Pet?" When she didn't respond, he tried again. "Willow?" He watched as she turned her head but didn't say anything to him. Spike wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his body. "Are you hurt?"

Willow looked up into his eyes. She could feel her body shaking a bit. "Can we go home now?" she said softly.

<Home? Does she consider the crypt now her home?>

"Spike? I wanna go back to the crypt. I don't wanna be out here anymore."

"Alright, luv." Spike and Willow both started walking away from the dust that settled. He kept a tight grip on Willow. And Willow who didn't seem to mind, kept her body as close as possible to Spike's. <I could've lost the chit tonight if I wasn't around. I'm not ready for that.> And then Spike realized what really happened back there. It wasn't about the attack or the vampire that got dusted. It was about Willow and himself. He realized that he fancied the girl.

As they entered the crypt, Spike let go of her. "Why don't you change and lay down? I know tonight couldn't have been easy for you."

Willow carefully climbed down the ladder and changed into a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. She was sitting on the bed when he came down the ladder. She watched him carefully. Every movement he made.

Spike was oblivious to the girl on his bed watching him. He came down the stairs and kicked off his boots and duster. He peeled off his shirt and reached in the cooler, grabbing a bag of blood. His nerves were a bit frazzled at the idea of someone else trying to hurt Willow. Even more so at the idea of someone else trying to take her away from him. He wasn't ready to part from the girl yet. Spike morphed and bit into the bag, sucking every last drop to calm the demon.

Willow watched as he fed. She knew it was probably a personal thing. But she couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight.

As Spike melted back to his human facade, he threw the bag away and turned around to face Willow. He realized she had been watching him.

"Sorry," Willow said quickly. "I had just never seen you feed before. Not unless it was through a straw."

"You shouldn't have to watch me feed, luv."

"Why? It's a part of you. I don't mind, Spike. You need it to survive and...and I don't want you to become dust," she told him softly.

Spike took a deep breath and relaxed at the thought that it didn't disgust her. "Are you hungry, pet?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"We need to get some groceries soon. You can't survive off this junk."

"Xander does," she replied with a smile.

"Yeah, well I plan on taking care of you so you don't end up like him," he chuckled. Spike reached into the cooler and pulled out a soda and a bag of chips. "Chips in the cooler?"

"It's cold and it makes them crunchy. And I guess I'm weird."

"Not weird, luv. It's the little things about people that makes them different. It's a good different." He took a seat beside her on the bed and handed her the food.

Willow downed the soda and ate the chips in record speed. She was hungrier than she thought. "You're right. We really need to get some groceries."

"Why don't you lay down, pet?" 

Willow started biting her bottom lip. "Would you...would you lay down with me?"

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Please?" she added just in case he was thinking of saying no. About twenty minutes later, they were both laying in bed on top of the covers, staring at the ceiling. "Spike?"

"Yeah, luv."

"About earlier..."

"It's alright, Red. We don't have to do this right now."

"No, I need to say this. If you hadn't been there tonight. I ... I would've died. I..."

Spike rolled onto his side and faced Willow.

"I," Willow started again. "I would have never seen you again," she said quietly. She turned her head to look at him. "And that bothers me a lot and I don't know why," she confessed.

Spike trailed his fingers down her cheek and pushed her hair out of the way. He leaned his head to the side and just stared into her eyes.

"Say something, Spike. Please?"

He continued running his fingers across her cheek and then over her lips. Willow felt her heart start to speed up.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Taking what I want," he replied and then pressed his lips to hers.

tbc

Chapter 10

Willow opened her mouth to protest the kiss, which Spike took to his advantage. He deepened the kiss, tasting Willow. Willow let herself relax into the kiss and enjoy it for a moment before she decided how 'wrong' it was. She placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed him away. Spike pulled back with a confused look on his face.

"Spike," she said almost out of breath. "We can't do this."

"We can't? Why the hell not?"

"Because...because..."

"Oh those reasons," he replied dryly.

"I know you feel bad for me or whatever and that's the reason you took me in but we just can't do that, because it always changes things. And I was enjoying things. And then those kinds of things just change everything."

"Would a change be bad, luv?"

Willow started to get up, ignoring his question. "Maybe I should sleep on the couch."

Spike grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down on the bed. "No," he growled. "You're stayin' here," he told her softly. "I'll behave," he reassured her.

Willow knew there was no point in arguing with the vampire when he was in this kind of mood. She settled back down on the bed on her side with her back facing Spike.

Spike knew she wasn't facing him on purpose. He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her body to his, so his body was spooning hers. He felt Willow bring her hand to his and interlocked their fingers.

"About tonight," he whispered. "I'm not ready to lose you, luv." He felt her relax against him as the words left his lips.

Willow drifted asleep, his words being the last thing she remembered.

Willow woke up the next afternoon. Quietly she climbed out of bed and changed her clothes. As she turned around to whisper to Spike that she was going out for a bit, she jumped. Spike was standing in front of her in nothing more than a pair of jeans. "Spike!"

"Going somewhere, luv?"

"I...uh...I was just gonna go see Buffy and Giles."

"Wouldn't be running out on me would you?"

"Running out?" she squeaked.

"After the kiss last night. The one that you thought was so wrong."

"It was wr..."

"No. It. Wasn't." His eyes blazed golden.

Willow let her eyes drift away from his. "I'm going to help research. Will I see you later at the Magic Box?"

Spike placed two fingers under her chin and lifted her gaze to meet his. "Do you want to see me later, Willow?"

The use of her real name wasn't lost on her. "Yes," she whispered.

"Then I'll be there."

Willow suddenly became very nervous. "Well I guess I should just go then."

"I'll see you later, pet." He turned to walk away but her voice brought him back to the moment.

"Spike?"

He turned around. "Yeah, luv." Before he could say anything, he found her lips against his. Closing his eyes, he focused on her scent. He felt her deepen the kiss and he found himself getting lost in her. When she finally pulled away, he started to kiss down her neck until he reached her pulse. Spike nuzzled her neck when he heard the words.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just..."

"Don't be sorry," he said softly. He pulled back to look at her. "I'll see you later." He watched her walk out the door and then Spike fell back on his bed in a content state.

Willow glanced at the clock. It was an hour before sundown. She had felt this nagging feeling deep inside her for the last twenty minutes. As each minute passed, the feeling became stronger and stronger. Finally she stood up and looked at Buffy. "I have to go."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. There's just something I forgot. I'll try to come back. If not, tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure." Buffy watched as Willow flew out the door. Buffy shrugged off the anxiety of her best friend and started to train with Giles.

Willow started running through the streets of Sunnydale. She knew something was wrong and she knew it had to do with Spike. She didn't even know how she knew, she just did. When Willow reached the crypt, she threw open the door but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "SPIKE? Are you down there?" When she didn't hear a response, she climbed down the ladder. "Please let him be ok," she mumbled to herself.

When Willow reached the lower floor, the sight before her made her freeze. Her eyes became wide as they grazed over her body. She felt herself start to hyperventilate. There was blood everywhere. His whole body was covered in bruises and cuts. Willow noticed that his face was even more pale than it usually was. She fell to her knees at the sight. She looked at his body once more and knew he was losing blood...fast. It was only a matter of time before he died from blood loss. He would be gone forever.

tbc

Chapter 11

Her eyes froze on his dying form. <No, no, no, no. He is not going to die.> Willow pushed herself up off the floor and started to scan the room. Quickly she made her way to the cooler for blood but it was gone. Willow started to hyperventilate. <Calm down.> It was then that something caught her eye. The bottle from the other night. She grabbed it and smashed it against the wall. Once it shattered to the floor, she bent down and picked up the biggest piece. Walking back over to Spike, she took a deep breath and turned her wrist. Looking once more at the piece of glass, she dragged it across her wrist until she saw blood.

Willow kneeled by Spike's body, and held the wrist in front of his face, silently pleading for him to drink. When his body didn't respond, she pushed her wrist to his lips. "Spike you have to drink," she whispered. Suddenly his eyes opened but no blue could be found. They were pure golden. He morphed and bit into her wrist, drinking for a moment before he pulled away.

Spike only drank enough blood to regain a fraction of his energy. He picked himself up off the floor and raked his eyes over the human in front of him.

"Spike?" she whispered but all she received was a growl. She knew then that Spike wasn't really there. She was dealing with his demon only. She stood up when she heard him growl and started to back away from him. He was advancing on her quickly. Before Willow knew it, the back of her legs hit the bed and she fell on top of it. Before she could get up, he was straddling her hips.

Spike smirked when she had fallen on the bed. He climbed on top of her to prevent her from leaving. Leaning down into her neck, he inhaled her scent for a moment. He pushed her head to the side and leaned down to her ear. "Mine," he growled. He bit into he neck harshly, letting the blood flow into his mouth. Even as he felt the girl struggle under him, he continued to feed from her. He bit down harder, claiming her as his. When Spike felt the human's body go limp, he pulled away and licked at the stray drops of blood on her neck. Then suddenly his eyes returned to their crystal shade of blue.

Spike leaned back from Willow, shock paralyzing his system. <Cor, Red. Don't die on me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.> Calming himself down, he concentrated on her heart, noticing it still had a strong beat. <How did I even bite the girl?> When he looked down, he saw her wrist still covered in blood. He tore his own wrist open with his fangs and spread his blood on the cut, knowing it would help speed up the wound's recovering time. He then held her close to his body, cradling her in her arms. "What did you do, Red? Why the hell did you do it?" he mumbled into her skin. His eyes drifted back to his bite mark. He had claimed her. "Please be ok. And please don't hate me when you wake up." He nuzzled into her neck and fell asleep, holding her close to his body.

Spike had been up for two hours and there had been no change in the sleeping girl next to him. He was genuinely worried about her. He knew he had taken too much blood.

Willow slowly opened her eyes, but everything seemed fuzzy. "Spike?" she whispered out to him.

Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Willow. I'm here baby. Say something. Do you need something?"

"Everything is fuzzy."

"You're weak. I...I took too much blood, luv. I'll get you some juice." Spike left the bed and walked over to the cooler grabbing a bottle of juice. He returned to the bed and helped Willow sit up. He kept one hand steady on her back while the other one held the juice. After Willow sat up half way, he brought the juice up to her lips, allowing her to take small sips. "Not too much at once. You'll get sick."

After she drank a little, she pushed it away and relaxed against Spike. Looking down at her wrist, she noticed the cut had almost healed.

Spike noticed the gesture. "Vampire blood, luv. I put some on your cut. It heals faster than human blood." Spike slid down the bed so their faces were eye level. "What did you do?" he asked her softly.

Anxiety started to coarse through her body. "Well I had this feeling...I came here...and you...no blood...you were..."

"Shh, luv. It's ok."

"I-I cut my wrist so you could drink. I guess your demon didn't like that or something. You bit into my neck and...oh goddess, you bit into my neck!"

"I drank from you, luv. It's why things are...fuzzy. We need to get some food into you and get the hell out of this crypt." Spike took a deep breath before he continued. "Do you realize what you did? What it means when a human offers their blood like you did?"

"No. I just..." Willow looked into his eyes and started to cry. "You were gonna die. You were losing so much blood. I didn't want you to go away," she said softly.

Spike pulled her to his body and started rubbing small circles on her back to soothe her. He brushed her tears away and kissed her forehead. "We need to talk soon, luv. Your blood...things have happened now."

"I don't understand."

"I know and I will explain but considering the hell we both just went through I don't think right now is the greatest time." Willow crawled out of his embrace and opened the cooler. She grabbed a bottle of water and a t-shirt.

"What are you doing, pet?"

"Taking care of you." She opened the water and wetted the material. She then started to drape it across his face, trying to clean the blood from his skin.

Spike grabbed her hand tenderly and stared into her eyes for a moment. "Everything just changed, luv."

Chapter 12

"What do you mean everything just changed? Spike..."

"Sshh, no worries. Go upstairs and pack up your stuff." He reached in his pocket and pulled out his keys. He then handed them to her. "Take these. The car is right outside. I'll gather what I need to down here and we're getting the hell out of this crypt."

"Where are we going?"

"We'll stay at a hotel till I can get everything figured out."

Willow started towards the stairs but stopped and turned towards him. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

He looked up and at her. "Sorry for what?"

"For what happened. The blood and the bite. I was scared and...I didn't know what to do."

He could see she was on the verge of tears. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his body. "Sshh. I told you no more worries. I'm gonna take care of you. But we need to get out of here before whoever it was that attacked me comes back. I won't let them hurt you."

Willow nodded her head. "I know you didn't want to bite me."

Spike growled at her statement. "That so?" He kissed her forehead. "There's so much to talk about. But right now we don't have the bloody time. Go on upstairs, pet." He watched her disappear up the ladder and ran a hand over his face. "Bloody hell, what have I gotten myself into? And how am I gonna tell her?" He looked around the room and grabbed a bag, throwing things into it. Lastly, he picked up his cell phone and made his way up the ladder.

When he reached the upper level, he saw Willow sitting on the floor, with her knees tucked into her chest. "Pet?"

"Hey," she said softly. "Are we ready?"

Spike walked over to her. "Yeah, we're ready." He extended his hand and pulled her up. "Why the long face, luv?"

"I just feel like I've done something wrong. Like I should've done something different. And I don't understand anything." Willow took a deep breath. "And..."

"And what?"

"And I want to kiss you," she whispered almost too softly. "And that's wrong because you're here taking care of me and..."

"Willow," he interrupted.

The sound of his husky voice sent shivers through her body. "Yeah," she said softly.

He pulled her body close to his and leaned into her neck. Spike placed a soft kiss on his claim. As he did that he could feel the emotions running through both of them. Pushing his demon back, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out to the car.



About an hour later, Spike had just gotten the keys to their room. He opened the door and ushered the redhead inside. Once they both made it safely inside, he locked the door and placed their bags down.

Willow looked around the room. It wasn't that bad. "So," she started.

"Not tonight, pet. We talk tomorrow. Go on and take a bath..."

"I'll take one in the morning."

"Alright. Then lets get some sleep."

"Ok." Willow went into the bathroom and changed her clothes and then climbed into the bed. "Are you staying up for a bit?" she asked him.

"A bit." Once he watched her fall to sleep, he pulled out his cell phone. Dialing the number, the phone rang three times before the other person picked up.

"Hello," the muffled answer came.

"Sire."

"William? Why are you calling me?"

"Listen, Angelus. I need something."

"What do you need?"

Spike glanced over at Willow while he talked to Angel. "I need my money. I know you have it somewhere tied up. Well, I need access to it."

"Tell me why."

"None of your bloody business. You gonna give me access to it or what?"

"It's important?"

Letting his eyes graze over her body, he returned his attention back to the phone call. "Yeah. It's very important."

"Where do you want me to wire it to?"

After Spike had given Angel the account information, he shed his clothes except for his jeans and climbed into bed with Willow. "Very important," he whispered. "Mine," he said softly as she nuzzled into his chest.

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