| *****PreBuffy***** Angelus put on his game face and cracked the door open. Behind it stood one very pissed-off demon. Kangus threw the door the rest of the way and strode into the club, looking around for an ambush. �Well, Mr. Unflappable Creature Of The Night, where�s my dinner?� Angelus�s face fell back into its human form. �What the hell are you talking about?� The demon whirled around to face the vampire and sneered, �My dinner, you fool. The one you supply me with every night. The girls. Where are the girls?� Angelus stared at him incredulously. �You can�t be serious,� he replied. �I am not a diner. Yesterday was busy. You fend for yourself.� The demon shot his nose into the air and sniffed. �There were girls here,� he yelled. �Where are my girls?� When Angelus just stood there rolling his eyes, Kangus upset a nearby table. Angelus shifted back into his demon form and grabbed the underlord�s arm. �I would advise you NOT to do that again...� Spike whirled around at the sound of the crashing downstairs. He didn�t like what he heard. He stubbed out his cigarette and ran down the stairs to find Kangus and Angelus grappling for control. Both demons were locked onto each other in a fury, each trying to rip the other apart. Spike sighed. *Gonna need to redo this room again,* he thought briefly before he knocked Kangus over the head with a chair, flattening him. �Thanks, old boy,� Angelus replied, grinning with all of his fangs showing. �But one more minute and I�d have had him!� Spike raised an eyebrow and didn�t comment. �What are we going to do with him?� �I haven�t decided yet,� Angelus said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. �I�d like to kill him, but we do need him, for now anyway. Throw him in the shed and lock it. He wants to eat, he does it on my terms.� He kicked the listless demon for emphasis and strode over to the bar to grab a drink. Spike sighed again. So much for the start of a great night. Maybe that would all change. Maybe Honey would come back to the Tooth & Nail tonight. Maybe this time, it would be his turn to play. Honey slid effortlessly into a sky blue dress that clung to her curves like a suckling baby. She twirled in front of the mirror to check herself out. *Not too shabby,* she thought, surveying the finished product. No one, alive or dead, could resist her when she wore this dress. And tonight, she wanted ALL eyes on her. She wanted everyone to know what they were missing before she picked her stud and headed upstairs once again to ravage her new lover. Smiling at the thought of the vampire, she turned to leave, only to be blocked by Sprawl. �You remember what you�re going to the club to do tonight, don�t you?� he asked with a sneer for emphasis. �The same thing I did the other night,� she replied, annoyed that he was already ruining the beginnings of a perfect night. �NO! You are not going to do anything of the sort.� He grabbed her arm and hauled her back in front of the mirror. �You see that face? That�s the face of a whore. Someone who sleeps with anyone, no, make that anything, to get something out of them. A whore.� She yanked her arm away from him. Standing her ground, she spat back at him, �What are you, jealous? Jealous because I let him put his hands all over me and his tongue all in me, and I won�t even let you touch me?� She realized she was screaming and lowered her voice to a whisper, hissing through her teeth. �Or are you jealous because one day, I swear...� �What, Honey? You�re gonna what?� he taunted. �You do realize who you are, what you are, don�t you.� She looked at him through the puddle of grief accumulating in her eyes. �Don�t. Don�t say it. Don�t even think it.� �Say what Honey? Say that you�re a bastard? That your mother didn�t even know who your father was? That your mother was killed by one of her johns? That you were a prostitute at age 10? That the white guys who banged your brains out all night didn�t even pay sometimes? That the other whore�s on the street called you the Black Plague? That I, yes, that�s right, I, picked you off of the street and showed you how to be a part of society, and not a trick in the lowest dregs there are? You�re not going anywhere. I own you. You owe me your life! And I intend to collect. When this job is done and those vampires are dead, you don�t get to play detective anymore. Either you marry me, or I kill you. Plain and simple.� �NO!! One day I�m leaving here forever and YOU, you bastard, you can crawl through the slums in the grime of night searching for pain. I want more than this. I want to be happy. I want to be so far away from you, you couldn�t feed off of me if I was in the worst pain ever. Capice? Stay away from...� Honey�s words were abruptly jolted from her by a loud, hard smack across the face. She fell to the floor, crying and screaming for him to leave her alone. He didn�t. Instead, he hit her over and over until she lost the strength to yell and just silently took the blows, curled on her side, waiting for it to end. When she was close to unconscious, she peeked through bruised, bloodshot eyes and watched in horror as the familiar green vein came out of his throat, seeking entry, hungry for her pain. Her last thought before fading into black was how uncouth of a demon Sprawl really was. At least vampires sucked their victims dry and either killed them or turned them. Sprawl, on the other hand, just sucked. Leaving the littlest shard of something left. Something to breed more sadness and grief, so he could come back and feed again. Making you pray for the day when you would die, and be free from the anguish. As his mouth affixed to hers, she had one last fleeting thought. How that day, the day you are free, no matter how good you are, how long you wait, never comes... Spike hummed along with the band as they played the revelers into the night. He had yet to see Honey, so he�d busied himself with greeting every other female face in the club until he ran across hers. Angelus, still annoyed from the earlier encounter with Kangus, was sitting in a corner booth, surrounded by women. Spike smiled to himself. �Angel-face� sure knew how to recover from an unpleasant incident. *That�s right, girls, keep �im busy,* he thought. *Then, he won�t even notice when Honey comes in. And I�ll take over from there.* Honey stumbled across the street. Her beautiful veneer of early that evening was gone, replaced by a bedraggled woman in a torn dress, covered in bruises, bleeding profusely. She ran through the front door of Tooth & Nail and spotted Angelus in the corner VIP booth. She tried to compose herself as she walked over. Moving the girls out of the way, she faced him, face ready to crumble again. He looked up and his eyes widened in surprise. �What the hell happened to you?� he yelled. He stood up, grabbed her and led her to a secluded spot beside the bar. �Now, look,� he began, �I can�t have you walking in here looking this way. I have a business to run.� He looked around, spotted Spike and beckoned him to his side. �Can you do something about this?� �Dear God, are you okay?� Spike asked, looking at her with concern. She allowed carefully held back tears to spill. Angelus rolled his eyes. �Great, now she�s crying too!� Spike shot him a withering glance. �Could you act like more of an ass?� �Yes, as a matter of fact, I can. You�ll see firsthand if you don�t get her out of here.� Spike gingerly took Honey�s arm as she stared at Angelus in bewilderment. As they turned towards the staircase, she reached out to Angelus, but he had already turned his back and was whispering to another brunette. Hanging her head in despair, she let out a muffled cry and allowed Spike to lead her up the stairs. Spike never could stand the sound of a woman�s tears. He couldn�t count the number of times Dru had used her trembling bottom lip to get him to do something for her. Once, when a girl he wanted to bite started to cry, he had let her go, only to have a fledgling catch her all of five minutes later and drain her dry. It was just too pathetic of a sound. The whimpering, the sniffling, the hiccups. He hated that sound more than anything. And to hear it come from Honey, through her battered lips and puffy eyes was making it worse. He tried to be as gentle as possible cleaning her wounds, while she just cried and mumbled. He didn�t catch much of it, only occasional references to pigs, how all guys are pigs, how she should have known better, and ending pain for everyone who suffered. He felt so bad he ended up cradling her to him, stroking her hair and speaking softly to her about nothing in particular. When the crying finally subsided, she turned to him and touched his face. �Thank you for being so kind to me,� she whispered. He held her tighter. �Who did this to you, Honey? Tell me and I�ll take care of him.� �You can�t,� she replied. �Trust me, if you could, I�d let you, in a heartbeat. But you can�t.� She wrapped her arms around him, buried her face in his shirt, and began to cry again. Lorenzo Sprawl stood in the doorway of the Tooth & Nail, appreciating the nightlife that was thriving inside. He knew Honey would come here after their spat, and he had intended as much. He needed a distraction while he gave the premises a once-over. Something Honey was supposed to do, but didn�t. So, even if she didn�t want to play by his rules, he would get his job done! The inside of the club looked fairly harmless, so he moved on. Alley, back door, trash receptacle. Nothing. Then his demon senses picked up on an odor that was very familiar to him. Rage. He followed it to a shabby looking shed, so far from the club, it looked like it belonged to the factory across the alley. He heard a strange noise and inched further to investigate. *Yep, definitely coming from in there,* he thought. Taking out his old six-shooter, he circled the structure with ease, settling upon an entrance. Kicking open the door, he prepared himself for the worst. And he got it. A huge, 7 foot, horned, pig-looking monster lunged at him, all four arms flailing. He shot at it, once, twice, three times. Screaming, it ran into the night, but not before striking Sprawl with one huge hand, knocking him to the ground. When he got up, the creature was gone. �Well, well,� he said out loud. �Nice to meet you too. Kangus.� He dusted himself off reverently and made his way back to the lookout to see what Honey was doing to soothe her wounds. As usual, the heavy velvet curtains blocked his view. He cursed aloud. He would just wait until she returned. Honey had finally stopped crying, much to Spike�s relief. In fact, she was starting to act more like her old self, demanding he bring her a drink, and singing under her breath as she changed into a shirt of his. He smiled at her. �Still not going to tell me what happened?� �Nope. You saw the worst of it.� She looked at the floor. �I�m used to HIM hurting me. But, I thought he was my savior, my �Angel-face�.� Spike sighed. Why Angelus thought he had to be a complete jerk sometimes was beyond him. Sure, he was evil, and he liked it. But that didn�t mean he had to be callous about it. He walked over to Honey and embraced her. �Angelus can be quite a wanker at times. I�m sorry he hurt you. He doesn�t deserve to be in your company anyhow.� She smiled up at him, tears gathering in her eyes. �But you do,� she whispered and leaned up on tiptoe to kiss him. Then, what had started out as a �thank you� turned into a �take me�. Spike�s mind started to race. This is what he wanted, wasn�t it? But he didn�t want it to be out of pity. He wanted her to want him too. �Are you sure?� he asked her. She pulled the shirt over her head and ripped down the front buttons of the one he was wearing. �Just make me feel like a woman again. Please.� Spike happily complied. As Spike moved his hands down her body and kissed her breasts, Honey allowed her mind to wander. What he was doing felt so good. She had thought about using him before, but now it was clear he was definitely Angelus�s equal, if not better. All coherent thoughts left her head as his mouth traveled down her body and stopped between her legs. She moaned and arched her back to give him better access. Forget Sprawl and Angelus. This is how a real man treated a woman, with an air of sensitivity and grace. And then, a good fu... Honey�s mind went blank as the orgasm ripped through her body and freed itself from her mouth. Within seconds, Spike was completely naked and leaning over her. She took a moment to appreciate the lean muscles of his body, then pulled him on top of her and kissed him. He entered her swiftly and suddenly she forgot she was even in any pain at all. As she succumbed to the pleasure, she barely noticed a tall, dark figure standing by the door, looking angry as hell. She barely noticed anything. Just William, sweet William, and the feelings she knew would last all night long. As Spike lay seated next to her on the bed, Honey contemplated life as she knew it. Then, she made a decision. She leaned over, and held his face in her hands. He smiled at her. �What is it, luv?� �William, I need you to do me a huge favor...� |
| TOOTH & NAIL |
| BY PREBUFFY & MAZZY |
| PART VI |
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| NC-17 WARNING |
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| manip by Mazzy |