| Title: The Games People Play Author: Gillian Silverlight Distribution: my site, anyone else who has permission to post my fic, others please ask. Disclaimer: They belong to Joss.. I just play with them. (And wish I could!) Summary: Challenge fic from SheGiles07 : A very stormy night, with the Scoobies and Spike trapped in the old mansion, alcohol and a game of truth or Consequences where Buffy and Spike <and a few other people it seems> get put into some interesting circumstances. (S/B, X/A, W/T/G ) Rating: NC-17 The Games People Play The Scooby gang had gone to LA that day to pick up some supplies for the Magick Box with Giles. They had all felt the need for a break recently, so everyone piled into the blaze that used to be Buffy’s moms. Once in LA, they’d picked up the supplies and decided to walk down along the Third Street Promenade for a bit, doing some window-shopping. They grabbed a bite of lunch at a little diner, hit the nearby Starbucks for something to drink then made their way on over to the beach to relax and play for a while. Finally calling it a day, they piled back into the car much happier even if tired and headed back to Sunnydale. The drive was uneventful until they had covered about half the distance home. The sky started turning dark very quickly and about 15 minutes outside of Sunnydale, the charcoal grey clouds finally opened, releasing a torrential rainstorm. The sky was as dark as midnight and the rain so heavy they could barely see the end of the car’s hood. Even the radio playing softly kept pace with the weather as the strains of ‘Riders on the Storm’ with the haunting sounds of Jim Morrison’s voice whispered through the one dry space in that ocean of wetness. Creeping their way into town through the deluge, the friends had finally made it down the street to within a half block of the old mansion, when an ear-shattering clap of thunder split the air while it’s companion slash of lightening toppled one of the huge trees right in front of the car, completely blocking the roadway. Fortunately they were not in any danger of hitting the tree since they were driving slowly trying to simply find the road. Giles stopped the car at the side of the street to glare at the offending tree. “Oh, bloody hell! We’re going to have to make a run for it to the mansion. Just lock the doors and leave everything here until this rain finally stops.” “Giles, we’ll be soaked before we can go an inch out there.” “I’m well aware of that Buffy and I can assure you I am not looking forward to a shower outside of my own bathroom. However, this could continue for hours, so I see no alternative.” “At least we’ve got dry clothes and stuff at the mansion.” Willow reminded them. “Yeah, and plenty of firewood so we can get dried out. Not to mention food and a bathroom.” Xander offered. “Oh, I bet you’ll want me to turn that tree into even more firewood once the rain stops….” The brunette grumbled as he realized what else the tree would mean, especially for him. “We might as well just run. This isn’t gonna get any better. I’ve got the keys for the mansion.” Buffy said to them as she frowned at the rain outside of the window. She opened the door, squealing as the deluge hit her with battering force, soaking through her clothes in seconds. She hit the door lock, slammed the door and ran for the mansion door. Having gotten the key out of her purse before getting out of the car, she slammed it into the lock and wrenched the heavy door open against the force of the pouring storm. Giles, Xander, Willow, Tara and Anya where just seconds behind her. Buffy had a key to the mansion, in fact they all had a key to the old house, since Angel had signed the deed over to them sometime back so they could have a safe haven for whatever and whenever they might need it. His only stipulation was to be allowed to use the place whenever he was in town. They’d all been more than agreeable especially with such a generous offer from the vampire by giving them the house. In case of just such an emergency, they all kept a few clothes there as well as general supplies like towels and non-perishable foods, drinks, bed linens and blankets in addition to the stockpile of firewood Xander had complained about. As the majority of the gang dripped, shook, and wiped water off of themselves in a futile gesture, Buffy lit lanterns and candles while Giles started the fire in the fireplace. Buffy had lit the last candle when the front door burst open again tumbling in a familiar blonde vampire who looked much more like a large blonde drown rat at the moment. “Spike, what are you doing here?” Buffy asked him rather sharply. “Lookin’ for a bloody place to stay dry, that’s what!” He removed his treasured duster, now a mass of water soaked leather, and hung it over a corner of the large mantle. “What’s wrong with your place?” “Not a bloody thing if you’re a bleedin’ duck!” “You’ve been gone all day, Slayer or you’d know that it’s been raining like this since early this morning.” “Oh. We did leave about 8 this morning. Sorry. My bad.” “Just don’t aggravate us anymore than you have to, ok?” “What? I don’t get to play any games while we’re all so chummy and trapped here like the downed rats we all look like?” “Hey, Buffy.. That’s not a bad idea.. We might be stuck here all night, so playing some games would be fun, kinda…and would help pass the time.” The redheaded witch thought it was actually a great idea. Besides, it would let her and Tara check out an idea they had discussed quite a bit recently. It was an observation that Anya had tossed out one day and then forgot as she bulldozed her way to another subject. Tara had brought the idea back up to Willow once they were home. “Yeah, ok. Let’s get dry and warm and something to eat first Wil, ok?” Buffy told her friend as she plucked at the wet clothes clinging to her like a second skin. In actuality, Xander was very surreptitiously taking in the view of Buffy’s wet clothes as they clung to her, leaving very little to the imagination. Spike was being much more direct and quite boldly watching the blonde slayer with her light-colored tee-shirt and short skirt plastered to her body revealing every curve and every move she made. “I think I still might ‘ave some clothes left ‘ere from.. Well for a while.” Spike didn’t want to remind them any more than he already had about some of the mansions past history that they all knew much too well. He headed off to one of the other rooms looking for the dry clothes as he stripped the soaked tee shirt off and dropped it in the corner. Buffy heard the wet shirt hit the stone floor and as she turned around to see what had caused the noise, what she saw was a clear view of Spike’s very muscular and very naked back. The blonde slayer just looked at the blonde vampire, her mouth caught open as she’d halted before she could get a sound out. Her chest felt tight; it was hard to breathe and her abdomen tightened as she looked at the pale muscled back disappear through the doorway. “Ah, Buffy…. flies?” Willow said to her friend very quietly to keep from attracting the attention of everyone else in the room. Tara and Anya had seen Buffy’s reaction as they had also been watching the half naked vampire. “Yeah, right, Wil. Ah, lets go scrounge up some food and something to drink while the guys change clothes and get dry. Then we’ll get dry as well.” Even as she talked to Willow, Buffy’s eyes hadn’t left the spot where she’d seen Spike go through the door. Finally she shook her head slightly and turned back to what she should be attending to right then. *No, bad Slayer! Do not drool over the vampire, no matter how good that back looked! NO! Don’t think about good.. Bad! Bad vampire! * And in the back of her mind a tiny voice echoed * No biscuit! * Spike re-emerged from the back recesses of the mansion now with dry tee shirt, a long sleeved dark blue shirt over that, dry jeans and barefooted as he carried his boots in his hand, walking over to set them close to the fire. Buffy and Willow headed to the kitchen for food and drinks as Tara and Anya pulled some towels out of the closet so they could try and dry their hair as well. Giles and Xander had gone to change clothes as Spike sat in front of the fire, feet propped up on the edge of the hearth soaking up the warmth wafting out from the burning logs. *************************************** Finally everyone was warm, dry and fed. Only the girls had slightly damp hair but everyone was in a much better mood. The over-stuffed sofas and chairs had been pulled into a rough half circle facing the blazing fireplace. “S-so, why don’t we play some kind of game?” Tara asked all of them. “What did you have in mind?” Anya asked the usually shy witch. “Well, Willow and I had been talking the other night a-about how it might be fun to play ‘Truth or Consequences’ one night. W-we could do that now.” Giles looked over the book he was engrossed in, “Do we really want to do something like that? Those things can get out of hand.” “Com’on G-Man, aren’t we all just dying to know each other deep dark secrets?” Giles just glared at Xander. “Well, ok.. Maybe those of us that have such dark secrets, but that wouldn’t be all of us, so we’d just have to tell light happy secrets..” A chorus echoes through the room from everyone there, “Xander, shut up!” “Ok.. I’ll be going over to sit in the corner and be quiet all by myself now.” as he got up and did so. “Spike, you’ll play with us too, won’t you?” Anya asked the vampire sitting in the chair next to her. “What? A silly game?” “It’s not silly, although sometimes the answers can be silly.. and people can get into embarrassing situations.” Anya told Spike quite proudly. She and Xander had played this game one evening at a party and had wound up in a closet where Anya had promptly attacked Xander. It was the first time she’d had sex in a closet and had thought it was quite fun. The people out in the room being able to possibly hear them had added a certain excitement to it for her. “Yeah, Spike.. Play with us, please!” Willow urged him. “P-please join us, Spike..” Tara shyly asked him. She didn’t know the vampire well, but this might be an opportunity to get to know him better. “Spike, if I’m going to have to play this bloody game with them, then you certainly have to as well.” Giles told the vampire. He was not planning to be embarrassed by himself and he knew these young friends and charges of his would do just that. Nor would they let him not join them in this. “Oh, bloody hell! Alright! But if I’m going to ‘umiliate myself for the lot’o ya, I’ve got to ‘ave something to drink.” Spike sprang out of the chair heading for the kitchen. He knew where there was some alcohol stashed and he wasn’t going to do this without it. “Do you mean you know where there is some here? Well, get it then! What on earth are you waiting for?” Giles asked the vampire. *Thank heavens! At least if I have to be embarrassed, I can numb it a bit! * Giles thought to himself as Spike left the room. Xander went over to Anya and took her hand, pulling her with him toward the kitchen. They got a container of ice and a large bottle of cola so everyone could have refills and something to mix the booze with. He had a feeling that several of them were gonna need that before this was over with, but they just weren’t used to handling booze straight like Spike and Giles could do. ***************************** Finally everyone had a drink in front of them, liberally laced with the bourbon that Spike had found. Giles had foregone the cola and had simply added a bit of water and ice to his drink. Spike had even grabbed a glass instead of the bottle, and added a bit of ice. They were all situated in the chairs and sofas in front of the fireplace. The oil lamps and candles burning lent an otherworldly air to the room, with the rain, thunder and lightening still pounding and shrieking around the outside of the building. “Ok, Tara, since this was your idea, you get to ask the first question.” Her partner told her. Tara squeezed Willow’s hand and looked to her left at Anya. “Anya, truth or consequences… When you were a demon, did you have sex with men?” “Yes, I did occasionally. But being a vengeance demon, it’s really kinda frowned on.” Xander just stared at her. He wanted to ask her about it, but couldn’t while they were playing this. * Besides, that was long before she ever met me. I can be cool with that.* “Ok, Anya.. Your turn to ask a question, but not your partner.” Tara told the ex-demon. “Spike, what do you really think of Willow?” Anya asked the vampire. “I think Red’s, a bit of alright. She stood up to me when I could’ a ‘ad her for a snack. I respect that.” Willow turned pink with embarrassment even though she was pleased by Spike’s comment. “Xander, you’re next.” Willow told her friend. “Ok… let’s see.. So Giles, when we had all the fun with the band candy, did you and Buffy’s mom actually.. Ah, well, you know.” Giles looked at Xander a bit shocked and embarrassed as well. “I believe I’ll take the consequences.” “Ok. You have to shake hands with Spike.” Xander snickered. He knew Giles didn’t really care for Spike any more than he did himself. Giles reached over and shook hands quickly with Spike. Both men then very surreptitiously tried to wipe their hand on their pants, as they took another deep swallow of their drink. “Ok, Spike, you’re next. Giles, for this game, since Buffy is your Slayer and all, she’s kinda like your partner so you can’t ask her.” Willow explained. The redhead hacker knew just where she and Tara were going eventually with their questions. “Alright, Red, you’re makin’ the rules, so you get the question.” “Were you scared?” Willow understood what Spike was asking her, since the incident had already been mentioned. “I was to begin with, then I just got mad and that’s when I told you off.” Spike chuckled at her answer, “Good show, pet.” Willow smiled back at him. Since he’d been chipped and helping them, she’d learned more about the vampire and actually had gotten to like him and respect him in an odd kinda way. It was Giles’ turn next. He had every intention of getting Xander back for his question, childish as that may be on his part. “Xander, did you enjoy kissing Willow back then?” Anya turned and looked hard at Xander, who was having a bit of a problem trying to re-discover language and how to use it, as he turned several shades closer to the color of a cooked lobster. “I’ll just go with the consequences here. There is no answer that won’t get me killed by someone in this room.” “Smart man.” Giles muttered under his breath. “Alright, then. Go hug the person you know the least about in this room.” Xander got up, took a few steps and gave Tara a very brotherly hug, then sat back down. At this point, everyone was aware that this game was going to be ‘no-holds-barred’ and Xander, Spike, Giles and Buffy were ready for their next refill of their drinks. This time there wasn’t nearly as much cola in Xander and Buffy’s drinks, no water with the ice in Giles’ and Spike just poured his straight. Buffy looked around the room. “Tara, have you always been this shy?” “W-well, yes. B-but it’s not as bad as it u-used to be.” Buffy looked at Willow to ‘pass-the-buck’. The questions got rougher as they went around each time.. There were more consequences as they went along, as well as more drinks all around; however Giles, Xander, Buffy and Spike stayed ahead of all the rest of them. Eventually when it was Willow’s turn again, she asked Buffy, “So, the one time, you, ah, you know.. with Angel.. What was it like with a vampire compared to a human male?” Spike sat a bit forward and looked on with interest at her answer. Buffy blushed. “I’ll take consequences, Wil.” “Ok.. Go sit in Spike’s lap for five minutes.” Buffy just stared at her friend. Everyone looked expectantly at Buffy, except Spike. Buffy slowly got up and walked over to Spike and carefully sat in his lap. He leaned back a bit to give her a bit more room. Buffy was a bit tipsy from the alcohol and almost fell out of his lap until she grabbed him around the neck with one arm. Spike leaned back, keeping her arm in place around him and put an arm around her waist. She turned and glared at him. “What? I just didn’t want you to fall and get ‘urt, luv.” Without a word to Spike, Buffy turned back and looked daggers at Willow. Willow just smiled at the slayer. It was Xander’s turn again, as he looked at Willow “So, Wil, without details, how is a female partner different than a male partner?” Willow grabbed her drink and gulped most of it down in one swallow. “Consequences.” was all she said. “Ok, go do something that will embarrass Giles.” It was Willow’s turn to glare at Xander. *I always wondered about this. Now is my chance to find out. * Willow walked over to the Watcher, leaned over and kissed him quite thoroughly to his absolute shock. With a small smile on her face, she walked back to her seat, leaving Xander as well as Giles quite speechless. Tara just giggled at her partner. She was secure in their relationship. As Buffy sat there in Spike’s lap and listened, she had unconsciously relaxed so that she was leaning back against one side of Spike’s chest with her arm around his shoulders. She was quite comfortable and didn’t even notice when he slid his other arm around her waist. “Ah, Buffy. Your five minutes are up.” Xander told her. This time it was both Buffy and Spike that glared at him as Buffy got out of the vampire’s lap and went back to her seat.. The questions continued, as did the round of drinks. Finally at a bathroom break, Spike went to the kitchen and got another bottle. Giles went to help. “They’re bloody well trying to embarrass the hell out of us in there.” Giles muttered at Spike. “Tha’ bleedin’ women are worse than we men are! What’s with that, Watcher?” Spike grumbled back at Giles. “Who ever said they were the weaker sex never had to put up with this lot, I can tell you that.” “There should be a handbook somewhere on how to understand women.” “If you ever find it, I bloody well want a copy of it, Watcher.” Spike grumbled again. “You have a deal, Spike.” * What am I doing, making deals with Spike of all, ah, people, even for a book? * Giles swayed a bit, Spike caught him and the two men walked back into the room arm in arm, holding the other one upright. Giles was much more intoxicated than Spike. More questions continued and finally on one of them, Giles chose consequences again. “Do something to embarrass Xander.” Tara told him. With a gleam in his eye Giles got up a bit unsteadily, walked over to Anya, pulling her up with one hand and into his arms; then proceeded to kiss her. Anya very enthuastically kissed him back, much to Xander’s dismay. Finally Giles broke the kiss and went back to his chair. “That was quite nice. Thank you Giles.” Anya told him across the circle of chairs. “You’re certainly welcome, Anya. My pleasure.” Giles remarked back, then turned a slight Ripper-esque smile at Xander. At this point, the consequences all seemed to evolve into some kind of kissing or touching of some kind. At one of Anya’s turns she asked Buffy, “Who have you had the sexiest dream about ever?” Buffy muttered ‘consequences’ again as she slunk down into her chair. Anya had seen the trend of Tara and Willow’s consequences for Buffy and followed right along with the unspoken plan. “Sit in Spike’s lap and kiss him for one minute, we’ll time you.” Buffy had finished the rest of her drink at the beginning of the question. She had worked her way to just bourbon and very little water with some ice as well. Giles and Spike had both been drinking straight for a while. Xander’s was only slightly more diluted than Buffy’s. Tara’s and Willows drinks had gotten stronger as well. Buffy went without comment or glares; to Spike, sat in his lap and leaned over to kiss him. As she pressed her lips to his, she felt his tongue dart across her lips asking for entrance. She parted her lips willing to allow him to deepen the kiss, as their tongues battled with each other. Each of them had pulled the other in closer as they had kissed. Spike had one arm around Buffy’s waist holding her close, while the other hand pressed against the back of her neck. She in turn had one arm around his back and the other hand tangled in his hair at the nape of his neck. Spike gently sucked Buffy’s lower lip into his mouth and she moaned softly, the sound falling into his open mouth on hers. When Buffy finally had to break the kiss to take a breath, she finally heard Xander calling her. “Buffy, Buff.. Wanna come up for air now, Buff.. He goes grr, remember?” Buffy turned around and looked at Xander. He recognized the look in her eyes. Anya got that same look. It was one of passion. “Xander, shut up.” Buffy stayed where she was this time, in Spike’s lap. He had his arms relaxed but rather possessively around her. It was Spike’s turn for a question. Buffy whispered in his ear. He smiled at her. “So, Watcher, what did you think of Red’s kiss earlier?” “I’ll take consequences for 100, Alex.” Giles told the vampire. Spike snickered. “Ok, mate. You kissed one of the witches, go kiss the other one.” Giles got to his feet and headed unsteadily to Tara and kneeled down, pulling her face to him, kissing her soundly. He knew the kind of relationship she had with Willow and so was rather surprised to find her kissing him back as ardently as he kissed her. He felt Willow reach over and put her arm around him as she leaned closer so that only Giles and Tara could hear her. “Let’s go in the other room and leave the rest of them alone. They all seem to be kinda busy.” Giles broke the kiss with Tara and looked around to see Anya in Xander’s lap, kissing him, as well as Buffy doing the same with Spike. The watcher stood up carefully. Willow and Tara each took one of his hands pulling him with them to the room the two women normally used when they were at the mansion. Giles knew it had a king-sized bed in the room. * Oh, my. They just might be the death of me tonight. * But he went willingly with them. ************************************** Spike broke the kiss this time. “Luv, what room do you usually sleep in here?” She told him. He grinned back at her. “That’s the one that was my room.. before, luv.” He picked her up in his arms. They were the only ones left there in from of the fireplace. Neither of them had even noticed that the others had left until now. Spike carried Buffy into the bedroom and tried to lay her down on the bed. She refused to unwrap her arms from around his neck and pulled him down to the bed with her. He was drunk enough that he was easily pulled off balance. Buffy giggled as Spike fell half on top of her. “Are you trying to break my neck, Slayer?” He asked her in a mock growl. “No, I just didn’t want you to go away.” She whispered as she nuzzled his neck. “I wasn’t going anywhere if you weren’t there, luv.” Spike murmured against her lips as he kissed her again. She sighed, pulling him closer to her, wrapping one leg around his leg and wiggling closer to him. Spike broke the kiss so Buffy could take a breath and ran his lips down the side of her neck, gently nipping with blunt teeth. She arched her back against him, exposing more of her throat to him. Buffy ran her hands under his shirt, tugging at it, trying to get it off of him. The memory of his naked back earlier was branded in her mind and she wanted to see it as well as the rest of him. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew this was Spike, knew she shouldn’t be doing exactly what she was doing. But she’d had enough to drink that she didn’t care what she should nor shouldn’t be doing. She wanted him so badly she felt like her skin would burst from the sensations and desire inside of her. Spike wasn’t as drunk as Buffy was, but he wasn’t about to let her know that. She was willingly here in his arms and his vampire senses could smell her arousal in the air around her like an elusive perfume. He ran his hands inside her shirt, running his fingers along her side and gently brushing them across the beginning swell of her breasts. There was no bra in his way, since her’s had been soaked earlier from the rain. Buffy felt him graze her breasts and gasped into his mouth as her skin tightened even more and a throbbing pulse echoed through her from the wet center of her desire. Spike was hard against his jeans and they got tighter by the second. Buffy could feel the hardness of him pressing against her thigh as he lay next to her. She ran the tip of her tongue, pointed and damp, down the side of his neck and reached a hand to rub across his erection as she bit down right where his neck joined his shoulder. It was Spike’s turn to gasp and moan. He raised himself enough to pull her shirt over her head, tossing it onto the floor next to the bed and quickly rolled slightly from one side to the other as he removed the long sleeved shirt Buffy had been tugging at, following it with his tee shirt. Lying back against Buffy’s naked skin with his now naked chest, she whimpered and reached down to grasp his jean covered buttocks to pull him over her. “Buffy, luv.. are you sure?” “Spike. Shut. Up.” She punctuated each word with another kiss on his cool skin. “Yes, I’m sure.” She knew it was the alcohol talking, but she needed him. She’d not been touched in so long. He’d invaded her dreams almost every night since he’d told her he loved her months ago. She could admit to herself right now that she also wanted him. Spike slid his body over hers as they continued to explore each other with hands, lips, tongues and teeth. Both of them were panting, gasping for breath when Spike rolled over, bringing Buffy with him until she was resting on his body. She bend her knees bringing her legs up around his hips to grasp them as she sat up on his body. She licked her lips slowly as he watched her tongue slip between her kiss swollen lips. Spike thought he could die right then and be happy. Buffy reached down and unfastened his jeans, tugging them downward on his body. He reached up to set her off of him then removed the jeans for her and reached to unfasten hers as well. In a matter of seconds, both of them were naked, drinking in the sight of each other, drowning in the sight and scent of the other’s body. Spike pulled her back down next to him, holding her against his cool flesh as her skin threatened to set him on fire. Buffy felt his lips and teeth at her neck again, nibbling their way across her jaw line, to suck at the corner of her jaw before sliding up to her ear. “Who do you have sexy dreams about, luv?” He knew the answer already. He’d sat on the roof outside of her window at night, unable to go inside but he could watch her and hear her even if he couldn’t touch her. He’d seen her moaning and turning in her bed alone as she’d whispered his name in her sleep. The memory of those dreams that haunted her sleep crept across the back of her mind pulling another wordless sound from deep within her throat. Spike gently took her wrists in his hands and raised her arms above her head giving him full access to her breasts. He dipped his head down to run his tongue across one nipple before asking her again. “Who, luv.. who’s in your dreams?” * God, he’d torturing me. Exquisite torture just like my dreams about him. Why him? Why does he haunt me at night until I burn for his touch? * “You, Spike. You fill my dreams at night. You fill my body with yours in those dreams. Why? Why do you haunt me all night with your eyes, your touch…?” “Luv, they’re your dreams. Only you have that answer.” He sucked the other nipple into his mouth. “Ahhhhhh!” Buffy gasped in a whisper with her intake of breath. “Spike.. Help me find out why….” She wrapped her hand around the rock hardness of his body pressing into her hip. He almost lost it at the touch of her heated hand on his swollen flesh. He knew the answer to her question. He’d always known. She had to find that answer herself. She had to stop denying her reactions to him, hiding them behind anger. He reached his hand down to find her wet warmth. He was going to show her the answers she was looking for… *************************************** Somewhere in the back of Giles’ very intoxicated mind, he knew he was doing something he shouldn’t but couldn’t quite figure out what it was. His mind was very distracted by the armful of soft warm female he had on either side of him. Their hands and mouths were driving him to distraction. He’d long since given himself over to them and whatever they chose to do with him. He felt firm wet flesh as it clasped him inside of it, moving slowly. More sweet musky flesh pressed itself into his lips as he slurped at her body. One hand was holding on to the dark blonde at his face while the other grasped the redhead further down his body, urging her movements. He felt them learn across him, closer to each other as he heard them kiss above him. Eventually the world exploded around all three of them. They wiggled happily down into the king sized bed, a witch on each side of the watcher as they drifted off to sleep. ***************************************** Buffy’s nails pressed deep into Spike’s buttocks as he pounded hard into her flesh. He felt her quiver around him as she clutched him, pulling him down to her, covering his lips with hers for a moment before she guided his head to her neck, pressing him closer to her and arching her neck for him. Spike carefully sank his fangs into her shoulder just below her neck. As the sweet liquid taste of her crossed his tongue, they both fell over the edge. Buffy screamed his name in a whisper as he growled deep in his throat while they were swept away on the tide of release. Minutes later, he was licking the almost closed twin punctures and purring against her as she held him tightly, unwilling to let him move away even an inch. As the punctures closed in her flesh, the vampire nestled his face into the side of her neck and sighed as sleep over took them. Outside, the storm still beat against the walls. ************************************************** Giles woke with a soft warm body on either side of him. He looked at Tara on one side of him, her arm across his chest as she held him and Willow’s arm. Willow, on the other side of him, had stretched out the same way. He could tell that he was nude, and with the sheet sprawled barely across their hips, he could see the two women were also nude. Memory assaulted his already aching head. * Bloody hell! How did I manage to lose control like that! I know they both were more than willing, but.. but I should have stopped it before it started.* He thought back to exactly how it had started, the rain, the game, the drinking, and the consequences. If he didn’t know better, he’d almost think the results had been planned. These two had kept throwing Buffy at Spike all night and Xander had kept throwing the two women at him. * I feel more relaxed than I have in a long while, but how can I face any of them this morning? * He groaned inside his head to keep from waking either of the women beside him. As he thought about not disturbing them, they stirred beside him, opening their eyes. Willow and Tara looked at each other across his chest and rose up to kiss each other across him, then turned to kiss him. Each one of them kissed a corner of his mouth. “ Morning, Giles.” Tara told him with a smile. “Hi there. “ Willow murmured to him, kissing his cheek this time. “Ah, I feel that I should apologize for my behavior of last evening…” Willow reached up to put two fingers over his lips, silencing him. “Giles, your behavior was very nice. We both enjoyed it. I’d hate to think that you didn’t..” “None of us did anything that we didn’t all agree to, so there will be no being guilty-feeling this morning.” Tara rolled over on her stomach beside him, propped up on her elbows so she could look at him. “I-I certainly enjoyed what you did. Willow enjoyed it. We’re all adults. W-what we did together is n-nobody’s business except ours. O-ok?” The look in her eyes dared him to disagree with her. “A-alright then. But this isn’t something we can let happen again.” Giles started. “Well, at least not until all three of us have the urge to again.” Willow snickered at him. Giles blushed at their very open expression at him. “B-besides, Giles.. Y-you’ve not been with anyone in a while. We all h-have needs. And occasionally, W-willow and I are willing to take care of yours.” Tara told him bluntly. “Giles, no feeling guilty I told you. Everything is fine.” “Let’s go grab showers and get some coffee and breakfast started. It may take a while for Buffy and Spike to join us this morning.” Willow smirked again. “Willow! Did you plan all of this? Did you deliberately throw Buffy together with Spike?” Giles asked her, shocked at both women, but especially at the redheaded hacker. He was feeling definitely outnumbered. “Well, not exactly planned it, but we did take advantage of the situation.” “Look, Giles, we all might not approve, but Buffy doesn’t hate Spike. I’ll bet she even more-than-likes him. That spell I did that went wrong.. I didn’t make their feelings up for them, just the situation. Until Spike told her how he felt, she’d not staked him, had never uninvited him. There has to be a reason. We think she’s just been scared of being hurt.” “We t-talked about this. W-we don’t think he’d hurt her. H-he’s always been different from everything e-everybody has ever s-said about him. Let them f-figure it out on their own. E-everybody has needs, everybody w-wants to be loved.” Tara told the watcher. Giles was quiet for a few minutes as he thought about what they had said. “You may well be right. Buffy’s not really been happy since she and Angel.. Well, since he lost his soul. If she can be happy, even with Spike.. Well, she certainly deserves some happiness and he appears more than willing to protect her.” “Ok, my two beautiful ladies, let us get cleaned up before someone comes looking for us. And get some coffee made; my head will thank all of us.” Willow and Tara giggled at Giles as they all got out of bed. By mutual consent, the two women got one shower and Giles went for the other one. A bit later they all met out in the kitchen, dressed and feeling very relaxed. When Giles took the coffee pot and tray of cups into the living room and restarted the fire, Tara leaned close to Willow. “I’ve never been with a man before.. but I think that if I decide to find out what it’s like, I’d like for it to be him.” Willow smiled at her partner. “You could do a LOT worse than him. I know. Been there, done that.” They both laughed and went to join Giles in the living room with plates and a platter of eggs, bacon and toast. *********************************** Giles was not the only one that woke that morning with a headache. Buffy groaned as she woke, her head about to explode. She refused to open her eyes just yet. She was sure her eyelids would break off if she did. She leaned her head against the coolness at her side. It felt so good against her head. * Wait.. coolness.. against me.. Whoa! Spike! Me.. we.. Ohhhhhhhh!* Buffy thought she’d die right now and save doing it later. The cool male at her side turned over taking her into his arms. “Mornin’ luv. Ok this mornin’ or are you about to bolt outta the bed.” “Spike.. we.. what.. how….. Spike!?” He gave her a deep sleepy chuckle. “Yes; you know what; several ways, all of which were bloody wonderful, luv. Rest your ‘ead a bit and remember what we talked about last night.” Buffy let him pull her back down into the crook of his arm and shoulder. She searched through her mind for the rest of what they had done and talked about last night, as Spike held her, stroking her hair and rubbing his fingers in small soothing circles on her temple. It did relax her and made her headache feel better. It was a few minutes later when she pulled back a bit to look up at his face. Those beautiful blue eyes were watching her. She realized he was waiting for her to reject him again and hurt him. “Spike, I do remember it. I have a couple of questions. It’s important.” “ ‘K, luv. Ask away.” “ Do you still love me?” “ Yes, Buffy, I do. I’ve loved you for a long time now. I doubt it’s going to go away just because I made love to you last night.” “Are you planning to leave me?” He raised up on one elbow to look into her face. “Buffy, If I refused to leave you when you told me to and threatened to kill me, do you really think I’m gonna leave you now? No luv, I won’t leave you. If I had to leave you now, after last night.. Well, my unlife would have no reason to stay in it.” “ If you ever got the chip out of your head or if it stopped working, would you go back to killing?” “ No. If I did, you’d leave me, or stake me. If you left me, you might as well bloody go ahead and stake me.” “Don’t you understand yet, luv? I love you. I don’t ever want to not have you in my life, or unlife or whatever it is. I’ll do anything I have to, to stay with you.” “Do you remember what you said last night? About your dreams and who you dream about? Asking me to help you find out why I was always in your dreams?” “Yeah, I remember.” Buffy was quiet. She did remember and that was the problem. “Did you get your answer, luv? I know I tried hard enough to help you find it.” Spike knew she had the answer now, but he also knew what was still holding her back “Spike.. I..” She started, hiding her face, more from herself than from Spike. “Buffy, look at me.” He reached down and tilted her head back up toward him with a finger curled under her chin. “I know how much Angel hurt you. I think that Riley leaving you hurt you too, even though you didn’t love him. I understand about your Mum. I miss her too.” “But you’ve got all these bloody walls up around you so no one can get in. Keep’em out they can’t ‘urt you, but then they do cause they go away when you won’t let’em in, luv.” “You’re bein’ your own worst enemy, instead of me.” Her voice was soft and filled with tears, “I know, Spike. But I’m so afraid of being hurt again.” “Luv, I haven’t left you yet and you ‘ave bloody well given me plenty of bleedin’ reason to leave.. I won’t leave you. I promise.” “You promise?” “Yeah, I promise.” He leaned down and kissed her, pulling her closer to him as the kiss deepened. Buffy felt herself melting, falling, awash in the sensations his very touch created deep within her. “Spike…..” Her voice was husky, passion-filled. “Yes, luv. What say we try this with both of us sober?” Laughter sparkled through his voice. “Ummmmmm! Sounds good. Just love me, Spike.” “I do and I will.” Spike said against her mouth. She felt the vibration of his words run through her as he claimed her lips again. **************************************** Spike gasped as his body clinched inside of hers as he found his release seconds after Buffy’s. He nicked her skin again carefully, tasting her in his mouth. She whimpered into his shoulder as she bit down with blunt teeth, her body beginning to spasm around him again even before the last one had faded away. He licked carefully at the tiny nick in her shoulder as the blood stopped quickly. Spike rolled over onto his side, pulling Buffy with him, still deep inside of her. He reached up with his hand to stroke and then cup her face. * Cor, she’s so beautiful. Like a goddess. My Goddess, my sun, my light.* “Buffy, I love you.” He pulled her closer, tears pricking behind his eyes from the intensity of his emotions, “I love you.” She reached up to stroke his cheek, tracing the line of his sculptured cheekbones with her finger, “Spike, I love you.” Tears spilled over from her eyes. “Don’t say it unless you mean it. I couldn’t stand it if you did.” He searched her face, wiping a tear away with his thumb. “I do mean it. I was too scared before to even look at it. I’m still scared, but I can’t hide inside of myself any longer. I’ve been cruel, and wasted time we could have been together.” “I love you, Spike.” Then she added in a teasing, half serious voice, “But if you hurt me or leave me, you won’t be able to run fast enough to ever hide.” “I know, luv. But I won’t.” “We’d better go get a shower and dressed. Your mates are up, cause I smell coffee. We might want to tell them too.” “Yeah..” Buffy’s voice trailed off as something jogged her memory. “Spike.. while we were busy kissing last night, did you see what I thought I saw out of the corner of my eye?” “Do’y’mean your watcher going off with the two witches?” “So you saw it too? We may not be the only ones with a surprise for the rest of them.” They both laughed as they headed for the shower. ************************************* Showered and dressed, Buffy and Spike walked out into the living room, hand in hand. Giles looked up at the couple in surprise; Willow and Tara looked first at the two of them, and then at each other and then at Giles, with a secret smile on their faces. “Morning sleepy heads. Oh, my bad! Those weren’t sleepy noises..” Willow teased Buffy as Spike fixed Buffy a cup of coffee handing it to her. He leaned over to whisper in Willow’s ear, “Careful Red. I wasn’t as out of it as you thought last night. Remember vampires have good ‘earing. The three of you feeling better this morning, are you?” He smiled at the redheaded witch letting her know he was teasing. Willow slapped Spike lightly on the arm, “Oh, you… vampire you!” She laughed at him. “As a matter of fact.. Yes.” “Good for you!” He smirked back at her. Tara was close enough to catch the conversation. Giles didn’t hear but bits and pieces of it, yet he suspected he knew what Spike had figured out so quickly. “Ah, Spike..” Giles started. “Not to worry, mate. Not a word.” “Well, thanks. I, ah.. Thank you,” Giles wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but Spike was being awfully civil and was actually almost hovering over Buffy. “Giles, we might want to talk about a couple of things before the other two join us.” Buffy said to her mentor and friend. “Ah, Buffy.. I don’t really think that it’s something we need to talk about at all.” “Giles! Not you three! Me and Spike…” Buffy told him trying to be indignant as she almost choked on the laughter she was keeping inside. “Oh..I see.. And what did you wish to talk about then?” “Well, that Spike and I worked things out.. kinda last night and definitely this morning. I got past the fear and anger I’ve been holding inside and realized in all of it that I was afraid of what I was feeling for him and that I do love him.” Buffy sighed before she continued.” I know that I’m a trial to you, but if you can please just try to accept us together.” She turned to Willow and Tara, “You two kept throwing us at each other last night. You knew this would happen didn’t you?” “Well, Tara and I had talked about it. We can add, Buffy.. sometimes… And we got an answer that said you did care about him regardless of what you were telling you and us.” Willow leaned over and hugged Buffy and then to everyone’s surprise, hugged Spike as well. “You make her happy, you big blonde softie.” “’ey! Don’t be tellin’ that! I do ‘ave a reputation, you know!” Spike snarled at Willow right before he winked at her. She burst out into giggles. “Somebody is feeling good this morning. So we just won’t talk about why the three of you disappeared last night and then look like the cat that ate the canary this morning, right?” Buffy asked all three of them in general. “Ah, right. No talking about what we’re not gonna talk about.” Willow told her friend. Tara chuckled to herself quietly beside Willow as Giles blushed across the room. Spike suddenly held up a hand to let them know he’d heard something. Seconds later, the rest of them heard Xander and Anya down the hallway about to enter the room. **************************************** “Wow, all of you are already up. I figured we’d be the first ones up after the way you guys were inhaling the booze last night.” Xander said as he walked into the room and saw everyone else there. “Gee, you even have food and coffee ready. Great, I’m starved!” Xander had grabbed a plate and started adding food to it when he realized that Buffy was sitting next to Spike, holding his hand. “Ah, Buff.. Last night’s over now.. You don’t have to do anything else with fang-boy there.” “Xander, you better get your food and coffee and sit down.” Buffy told her friend. “Why do I feel like I’m not gonna like this?” The brunette said to no one in specific. Xander finished gathering up his breakfast and plopped down on one of the sofas. Anya had been quietly fixing a plate for her self as Xander had complained. She smiled at Buffy and Spike sitting together, and walked over to sit next to Xander. “Ok, Buffster, how are you going to ruin my morning for me?” Xander quipped. Anya jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow, looking innocent. “Xan, there is no reason for what I have to say to ‘ruin’ your morning or anything else, except your opportunity to make cheap shots at Spike.” “We worked a few things out between us and we’re going to be a couple.” “So before you can whine or complain at me or anybody else about it, just remember; you didn’t need any of us to tell you who you could or couldn’t be with; none of us need you to do that to us.” “If you’re our friend, Xander, you’ll let us live our life and try to be happy for us if we manage to find some happiness.” Xander gulped, looking a bit shame-faced at Buffy’s words. “Ok… Can I ask what happens if Spike gets that chip out of his head?” “I’m still here, ‘arris! I’ll tell you exactly what I told Buffy. Yeah, it’s a fair question even if I don’t bloody well like it.” “I love ‘er. I don’t always know ‘ow to ‘andle women, but I know ‘ow I feel. I won’t do anything to ‘urt Buffy, so if the chip was gone, going back to me old ways would ‘urt ‘er.” Spike turned to look into his love’s eyes as he continued.” She’d leave me if I ‘urt ‘er or anyone else. Don’t want that to ever ‘appen.” He turned back to look at Xander. “If I lost Buffy, I’d bring you the bleedin’ stake to put me out of my bleedin’ misery.” Xander looked hard at the vampire. “Ok, it’s a deal. You hurt her or go back to killing ever; I’ll personally stake you.” He gave a resigned sigh. “Until then, you better make our slayer happy.” Before anyone could say anything else, Anya jumped in the conversation. “ So Buffy, does this mean that you’ll stop being so bitchy all the time now? I don’t mean to offend you, Xander keeps telling me I have to work on that.. But you have been not always pleasant for months now.” Xander just looked at his girlfriend in shock, expecting Buffy to snatch Anya’s head off any second now. Buffy just laughed. “Yeah, Anya.. I have been. You’re right. I apologize for making life miserable for everybody.” “So.. you wanna go shopping with me next week? I think maybe I should get to know you better than I have so far…” “I’d like that Buffy. Thank you. Does that mean we’ll get to be friends?” “We can sure work on it.” Buffy smiled at the ex-demon. ************************************** Conversation settled into casual chit-chat after that. They ate breakfast and cleaned up, bundling up their still damp clothes. Everyone headed out to the car now that the rain had stopped sometime early that morning. Spike had grabbed a blanket and gotten into the car with them. The Public Works Department was busily cutting the huge tree up and had cleared a path through for traffic. Giles asked them to leave a goodly portion of the tree for them to salvage as firewood, since the tree had been on their property. Back at Buffy’s house, Giles dropped them all off, picked up his car and gave Tara and Willow a lift home. Xander and Anya left in their car as well. Dawn wouldn’t be home from the weekend spend-the-night until the next day, so Buffy asked Spike to stay over. He agreed, but left for an hour or so after dark to run an errand and get something to eat at Willie’s. Buffy had been curious about Spike’s errand, but he assured her she’d know later. Once he had gotten back to the Summer’s house, they’d talked and had decided to wait a bit to get their relationship on track before they considered living together, even though they planned to see each other just about every night. She did convince him to move into ‘their’ room in the mansion. He’d be dry, safer, and could keep an eye on the house when the rest of them weren’t there. It was about three weeks later when Spike came over with a cardboard box. “Buffy, let’s go by the Watcher’s house before we go to the movies.” “Ok. What’s up?” Buffy was very curious about why he was being so secret about going to Giles’ and about what was in the box, but she waited until they had reached her watcher’s apartment. “Hullo, Spike, Buffy.. ah, is there a problem? I was about to go out for the evening.” Giles looked a bit concerned and a little nervous. “No problem, Rupert. I went back the night the tree was cut up and grabbed a bit of it. Got a friend who owed me a bit of a favor, so I had him make a couple of things for me.” Spike opened the cardboard box and took out several small beautifully made boxes. They had been carved on a lathe, lined with velvet and polished to a high shine. Each one was from the tree that had blocked the road the night of the storm that had made such a difference for all of them. Spike handed Giles a small box lined with deep purple velvet. That date had been etched into the outside bottom of the box. “Spike, this is beautiful. It’s a very nice gesture.” Giles was stunned. “Thought it would be nice to have as a reminder. Good memories that.” Spike told him. “Quite. Very good memories.” Giles looked a bit far away for the moment. “While you’re going out tonight, Rupert. Would you give these two to Red and Tara?” Spike handed him a box lined in a deep red for Willow and one lined in a teal blue for Tara. “What.. How did you know.. What makes you think I’ll be seeing them tonight?” Giles blushed. Buffy laughed at the older man. “I ran into Willow and Tara in the grocery store today Giles. They hate Earl Grey Tea, but had a box of it. It could only be for you. And they both looked pretty happy. So as Willow said.. I can add sometimes. I told Spike earlier today.” Buffy smiled at her watcher and friend, happy that all three of her friends had discovered their unusual but obviously happy relationship. “Oh.. Well then.. I’ll be happy to convey them to the girls.” Buffy hugged Giles quickly before she and Spike headed to the door. Give them a hug for both of us too, Giles. Have fun.” “Yeah, have a good evenin’, mate.” Spike wished him. Buffy and Spike left, leaving Giles standing inside his doorway, a surprised but slightly bemused expression on his face. As they walked along, Spike still had the cardboard box under his arm. “So, love, you got boxes in there for both of us too?” Buffy asked him, curious still. He walked her over to a bench at the bus stop and sat her down. Spike reached into the cardboard box again, pulling out another small wooden box. It was lined in deep sea green velvet the color of Buffy’s eyes. “This one is mine. I picked the color ‘cause of your eyes, luv..” He handed her the last wooden box. “This one is for you, luv, if you want it.” Buffy looked at him puzzled as she opened the box, “Why wouldn’t I want it? OH..! Spike!” She sat staring inside the box. It was lined with velvet the exact blue of her lover’s eyes, and sitting inside the wooden box was a small jewelers box with the lid removed. It had a small, simple but beautiful engagement ring inside of it. “Yes, Spike. I want it more than I can tell you.” Tears flowed down her cheeks. Spike took the ring out of the box and slipped it on Buffy’s finger. He gently kissed her before they got up to walk home hand in hand. Gillian Silverlight 4/6/01 |