Part Two

*****

Xander hesitated two steps from the door. He turned and paced on the sidewalk. Over the past two days, he had been remarkably at peace with his decision, but in the face of the final step he was scared. He knew that this was something he wanted, something he needed, but he was still afraid. He was about to relinquish total control to Spike. Who was chipless and could kill him easily if he wanted to – soul or no soul. He paced a few more steps.

As he turned to pace back the other way, the door opened and a young man in jeans and a white silk shirt stepped out and looked at him. "Are you Xander?" he asked. Xander stopped in his tracks and stared. The man was lithe and thin. He had wavy black hair and fair skin, and his green eyes snapped with humor. He smiled. "Master Spike said we may have to come out and get you. Will you come with me?" He gestured toward the door. In that moment, Xander made his decision. If Spike knew him well enough to anticipate his behavior, then he saw no reason to distrust him. As logic went, it fell much more on the "insane troll" end of the spectrum than most kinds, but it worked for Xander. He nodded and preceded the man inside.

They passed through a small, featureless foyer to a plain door. The man waved a card to a sensor and the door slid open. They walked into a lobby that could have been any spa in America. The walls were papered in a subtle print, the floor was weathered stone. One corner of the room had a gorgeous waterfall that fell into a fountain, surrounded by lush plants. Comfortable chairs were scattered around, flanked by small tables that held magazines or pitchers of water and glasses. Wall sconces held candles that gave off a light, relaxing scent. Xander’s escort told him to take a seat and help himself if he wanted a drink. Xander sank into a chair next to the waterfall and poured himself a glass of water. The cut crystal pitcher was beautiful; the water had paper-thin slices of lemon and lime floating in it.

Xander sipped his water and looked around curiously. There were two other people in the waiting area, a man and a woman. The man was slim and slight in build, and he wore tailored black trousers and a starched white dress shirt. At first glance, he looked no more than sixteen, but upon closer inspection Xander decided he was in his mid-twenties at least. He sat on the edge of his chair with his back upright, his posture impeccable. His feet were together, his hands folded in his lap and he looked at the floor. The woman had a long, honey-blonde braid flowing down her back. She stared at the screen of the notebook computer on her lap through a pair of glasses that perched on the end of her nose. She wore jeans and a t-shirt and had sneakers on her feet. Xander looked at his own black jeans and black t-shirt and decided he looked OK.

A different man, this one short, stocky and dark, approached Xander. He introduced himself as Neil and asked Xander to go with him. Xander set his glass down and followed. Neil wore black jeans and a white t-shirt and was barefoot. He led Xander through several corridors. They passed several rooms with closed doors, another, smaller waiting room, what appeared to be a fully stocked salon and several smaller rooms. Neil stopped at an open door and led Xander inside. There was another man there, standing beside a hospital-type bed. Neil turned to Xander. "Xander, this is Al," he said. Xander nodded, and Al stepped toward him. Al was ebony black and had a shaved head. His smile was huge and blindingly white. He looked at Neil. "He’s just lovely," he said, in a surprisingly soft voice, and Xander felt himself blush. Al gestured toward Xander’s arm and asked, "May I?" Not knowing exactly what the man meant, Xander nodded anyway. Al lifted one arm and ran his fingers up it, brushing against the light dusting of hair. He made a "hmmmmmmm," noise, then reached into a wall cabinet and pulled out a white terry-cloth robe, which he handed to Xander. "We’ll step out and you can get undressed," he said, and before Xander could process that little tidbit both men were in the hall and Xander was alone.

Shrugging, Xander stripped off his clothes, stuffing his socks into his tennis shoes and piling his folded garments on top of them. He slipped the robe on and wandered around the room, checking it out. On a side table he found what looked like a high-tech crockpot. He lifted the lid and smelled the clear liquid inside. Paraffin. Suddenly he understood why Al had looked at his arm. He was going to get waxed. For a second he wondered how far this was going to go. Then he realized that it was probably going to go all the way. Gulp. He sat on the end of the bed and tried desperately to find some sort of convenient place in his mind to file a folder marked "getting waxed so you can be sexually dominated by your vampire nemesis".

After a soft knock on the door, Neil and Al reentered the room. Al looked at him for a moment. "I think I’m going to start with your eyebrows, Xander – they need a little shaping. If you’re not shy, you can just lose the robe. I’ll give you a sheet to cover your naughty bits and then we can just work our way down." Xander thought about that for a second, then stood and shucked the robe, handing it to Neil. He lay back on the bed and let Al drape a folded sheet across his groin. The black man placed a small pillow under Xander’s neck to tilt his head back. Xander felt something cool being lightly rubbed onto the skin around his eyebrows. It felt tingly. "It’s an herbal gel that stops this from hurting," Al explained. "Neil’s going to start putting it on your arms." Xander nodded and closed his eyes.

He felt Neil begins to rub the gel onto his arms with long, firm strokes. It felt good. His hands are so soft, Xander thought. Softer than even Anya’s, but much stronger. He found he wasn’t even slightly wigged that two different men were touching him. Good grief, he thought, look at me. I’m totally into guys. I was denial-boy for so long why? Al took a small wand and began carefully applying the warm wax to Xander’s unruly eyebrows. Xander felt him press a small cloth strip over the wax, and then tensed as it was snatched away. He was surprised to find the procedure completely painless and relaxed. Al worked on his eyebrows for a few minutes, and Neil finished his arms and started rubbing the gel onto Xander’s chest. The two men moved around the bed in tandem, and within twenty minutes Xander found himself with neatly groomed eyebrows and hairless arms, chest and legs. Neil lifted one of Xander’s arms over his head, and said, "I’m going to use the clippers for a sec, don’t be startled."

Xander winced at the buzz of the clipper, but didn’t move as his underarm hair was shorn, then waxed. Neil said, "Well, since the clippers are already out … Xander, are you ready for this?" Xander saw where Neil was looking and swallowed audibly. He gave the other man a quick nod, and then screwed his eyes shut. Neil pulled back the sheet, and Xander lay perfectly still as his pubic hair was shaved down to a quarter-inch. When the clippers turned off, he opened one eye just a little. He saw Neil smoothing more of the gel onto his hands and immediately slammed the eye shut.

His face burned as Neil smoothed the gel into his skin with efficient motions, lifting his cock, which had decided to embarrass him further by getting half hard, out of the way so he could put more of the gel on Xander’s scrotum. Xander bit back a moan. Even this clinical touch felt wonderful. For a moment he imagined it was Spike touching him and he had to stifle another small sound. Al moved in with the wax, and Xander found himself hair-free in that area as well. When he was told to roll over, he sighed in relief. The gel and wax procedure was repeated over the back of Xander’s body, and he was relaxed until the sheet was once again swept away. He couldn’t help the small moan that slipped out of his mouth when Neil’s hands slicked the gel over his ass and down his cleft. Xander bit his lip when the other man’s fingers rubbed over his asshole, and he had to fight the urge to press back into the contact. The gel tingled, and the brush of Neil’s finger against his hole was causing sparks to shoot up his spine. He wondered if Spike was going to fuck him tonight. He wondered if he was suffering from a psychotic break when he found himself hoping that the vampire would.

Finally, the waxing was done, and Xander was instructed to put his robe back on. Neither member of his audience seemed concerned about Xander’s raging boner, so he tried to forget about it himself. Neil touched his elbow and led him down the corridor to another small room. During the next two hours, Xander was given a barber shop-quality shave with a straight razor, complete with hot towels; a steam facial; and his first-ever manicure and pedicure. He was then led into a small room that held a table and two chairs. There he was served a light lunch and a glass of wine. The room had a selection of books and magazines and an attached bathroom. Xander admired himself in the large mirror for a while, marveling at the absolute smoothness of his body. He was also pleased with the way the technicians had been able to make his construction worker’s hands look elegant and well cared for. Back in the room, he found an interesting book and read until Neil came for him.

He was led to another treatment room. This one was warm and dark and held a massage table. Neil told him to lie down on his back, and Xander quickly dropped his robe and complied. For the next ninety minutes, Neil used his considerable skills and a half a bottle of lightly scented massage oil to turn Xander into a completely relaxed puddle of goo. Having never had a massage before, Xander was surprised to find that he enjoyed having his hands, feet and scalp rubbed almost as much as he enjoyed the large muscle work on his back. He didn’t even flinch when Neil’s strong hands kneaded his buttocks, giving himself over to the sliding sensation of the oil and the languor that crept over him.

He didn’t even realize he’d fallen asleep until he was awakened by a soft touch to the middle of his back. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty," Neil teased. Xander sat up groggily, and gratefully accepted the glass of juice he was offered. After handing back the empty glass, he hopped off the table and stretched, unconcerned with his nudity. He donned the robe Neil held out and followed the man through a long corridor to yet another room. This one seemed to be far from the others, and the hall held only four doors. "This is your suite," Neil told him, opening the door. The room was beautifully decorated in dark colors and lit only by candlelight. A large, opulently hung bed dominated it, and a leather sofa and two chairs were nestled in one corner. Another corner held a bar and a high table with two stools. Neil led Xander to another door and opened it to reveal a huge bathroom. He walked them over to a frosted glass door.

"This is the steam sauna," he explained. "I’ll set the timer for 20 minutes. Once the steam stops come back out here and take a bath or a shower – whichever you prefer. Then you are to rest until I come for you. It will be a couple of hours, so nap if you can. You should be relaxed enough. The bar is stocked. If you need anything, pick up the phone by the bed and press 9, and I’ll come to you, OK?" Xander nodded and stripped off his robe, which was pretty well covered in massage oil. Neil took it and gestured to two more just like it that hung on hooks next to the sauna. Xander nodded again and stepped through the frosted door.

The steam was great. Xander lay down at full length on the wooden bench and felt every pore in his body open up and sweat freely. It felt like all of his concerns and worries were being pulled out and swept away. He realized that he felt wonderful. He’d been pampered for hours. Xander was usually the one who took care of others, so having so many people focused on him was intoxicating. He felt like a show dog. Then a thought struck him. That’s exactly what he was to these people – a prized pet. They all thought he was a vampire’s cherished fuck-toy, being readied for his Master. Xander laughed when he realized that description was not far off the mark. He was a vampire’s fuck-toy. The beautiful part was that he had absolutely no control over the situation, so he had the freedom to let go and enjoy the sensations, and so far, the sensations had been, well - sensational.

Too soon the steam stopped hissing into the sauna. He exited reluctantly, surprised to find himself a little lightheaded. He padded out to the main room naked and got some more juice from the well-stocked refrigerator under the bar. The liquid made him feel better, and he returned to the bathroom for a shower. The shower was huge and made of marble. It had a full array of bath products, which Xander was perplexed to find were all completely unscented. He puzzled over that for a while before he realized that since this place catered to non-human clientele, they would obviously not offend vampire senses with artificial scents. He washed and conditioned his hair, and scrubbed the massage oil away with a luxurious bath gel. The feeling of his own hands sliding over his hairless body was wonderful, and he had to fight the urge to touch his erection.

After the shower, Xander dried off on the biggest, fluffiest white bath towels he had ever seen, and tumbled onto the huge bed. The wanton slide of the silk sheets did absolutely nothing to dim his arousal, but he fell asleep in minutes anyway.

A soft knock at the door was followed a moment later by Neil’s entry into the room. The dark-haired man walked to the refrigerator and poured Xander a glass of water. He brought it to the bedside table and shook Xander’s shoulder. He was sleeping completely uncovered on his stomach with his head buried in the pillow, and finally turned his head toward Neil, rising up on his elbows. Neil gasped softly, and Xander tilted his head in question. The other man ducked his head. "I’m sorry, Xander," he said, "You just look so… damn, you look gorgeous like that. Your Master is going to fall over when he sees you. He’s a lucky man." Xander’s expression changed to a shy smile, and when Neil looked back at him, Xander nodded in thanks.

Xander sat up on the bed and drank his water. Neil walked into the bathroom and got him a robe, which he put on. They left the room and walked back to the main part of the spa. This time they stopped at the salon, and Xander was shown to a chair. Two other men joined them. One began running his hands through Xander’s tousled hair while the other stood back watching. "I can see why we aren’t allowed to cut the length – it’s wonderful just as it is. I’m thinking a trim and just a few reddish highlights." The other man said, "Burgundy; with his skin tone it will be fabulous." They argued back and forth, but Xander tuned them out. Eventually, they came to a decision. The first man misted Xander’s hair with water and began the trim; the other left the room and returned a few moments later with a bowl of foul-smelling hair color.

Once the trim was complete, the second man began separating small sections of Xander’s hair and brushing on the color. As he finished each section he wrapped it in a small square of foil. Once he finished, Xander was brought a light snack and a soda to enjoy while the color took effect. Neil stayed by his side the entire time. Xander decided he like the masseuse, and that he didn’t mind his presence. A timer sounded, and the colorist returned. He pulled all of the foil out of Xander’s hair, and then led him to a sink. Xander leaned back, and the man washed his hair three times with the unscented shampoo to remove any trace of the chemical smell. He rubbed a handful of unscented conditioner over Xander’s hair, and then rinsed it with cool water.

Xander was returned to the man who had cut his hair. Twenty minutes later Xander stared into the mirror dumbstruck. His hair was still long, falling well past his collar in the back. It was shaped into artfully tousled waves; he looked like he’d just woken up. The burgundy streaks were very subtle; they gave his hair dimension and glinted in the salon’s lights. Xander reached up to touch a lock and found it was a soft as silk. He nodded and smiled at the two hairdressers, who fussed over him and told him he looked fabulous.

Neil led Xander back to his suite. Once they arrived, Neil told Xander to go to the bathroom and do "anything he needed to do", because this would be his last chance before his Master arrived. Nodding, Xander left the room. He used the bathroom and washed his hands, then brushed his teeth for good measure. He looked at himself in the mirror and tried to quell his rising panic. He started when a soft knock sounded on the door. He opened it and Neil stepped inside. Laying a hand on Xander’s arm, the shorter man smiled up at him. "It’ll be OK, Xander," he said, his tone warm and reassuring. "I know you’re new to this, but you don’t need to be scared. Your Master is going to be so happy with you. Any Master would be." He turned Xander to face the mirror. "Look at you. You’re just gorgeous; what’s not to like?" Xander smiled at Neil’s teasing tone and laid his hand over the other man’s for a moment. They exchanged a nod and walked back into the main room.

Xander immediately noted that some changes had been made. The bed had been restored to its original, pristine condition, his empty glass had disappeared, and, more ominously, there was another person present. Neil introduced Xander to the other man, who was named Paul. Paul spread a white sheet on the floor and asked Xander to step to the center of it. Neil held out a hand for Xander’s robe. Xander stripped and did as he was told. Xander was truly stymied when Paul began brushing a light powder all over his lower body with a big, fluffy brush. It tickled. While Paul powdered his legs, Neil stepped up in front of Xander.

"Xander," he said, still using the same reassuring tone, "I need to put this on you." Xander looked at what Neil was holding and blushed. He knew what it was; there had been pictures in his magazine. It was a leather cock ring. Xander looked down at his dick and thought that it was probably as far from hard as it had ever been. Neil’s glance followed his, and then came back to Xander’s eyes. "Do you want to…" he hesitated. "Or do you want me to…" Neil’s voice trailed off, but he had his answer when Xander’s cock suddenly decided to join the game by twitching and beginning to fill. Neil wrapped one hand loosely around Xander’s shaft and stroked him into full hardness easily. Xander couldn’t stop himself from thrusting eagerly against the other man’s hand; it felt so good. Neil’s hand was warm, and his skin was unbelievably soft. With his other hand Neil snapped the ring into place.

Vacillating wildly between embarrassment and arousal, Xander hardly noticed the ring being attached. Neil released his cock, and glancing down, Xander could see a matching erection pressing against the other man’s zipper. He was stunned that he could elicit such a reaction in another man, and also very aroused that it was so. Xander remained lost in thought as Paul powdered the rest of his lower body. Once he was finished, Paul reached into a large box that sat on the low table and pulled out a pair of black leather pants.

The pants were completely open down both sides. Instead of side seams, they had a row of tiny eyelets. The two men worked in tandem to put them on Xander. Neil held them at the waist while Paul crouched at Xander’s feet and began lacing one leg of the pants with a leather thong. The leather was butter-soft and beautifully supple. As he laced, Paul smoothed the leather and pulled it tight across Xander’s body. Xander noted that the knees of the pants were strongly reinforced; they were intended to be worn by someone who would kneel a lot.

Paul deftly laced the pants to the top of Xander’s thigh, and then paused. With an apologetic smile, Neil reached in and arranged Xander’s erection so that it was prominently displayed against the plain front of the trousers. Once he finished, Paul resumed lacing, tying the thong at the low waist of the pants. The action was repeated on the other side. The two men circled Xander, making small adjustments. The pants were skin-tight. In the back, the leather flowed over Xander’s buttocks and clung to the cleft of his ass

Once the pants were perfect, Neil rubbed a light coat of unscented oil onto the rest of Xander’s body to make him gleam in the candlelight. Paul reached back into the box and brought out a pair of leather gauntlets. He placed them on Xander’s wrists. They covered him from the base of his wrist to halfway up his forearms. The cuffs fastened with snaps, but also had eyelets attached to them. Xander wondered about them for a moment, but got his answer when Paul pulled his hands behind his back and laced the two cuffs together. His arms were stretched back, pushing his chest out. The position of his wrists allowed his hands to clasp together naturally, while defining every muscle in his arms, shoulders and back with a minimum of tension.

Neil led Xander off of the drop cloth, and Paul swept it up and folded it. Walking him back to the center of the room, Neil told Xander to kneel on the floor. Xander complied, and Paul stepped forward to clasp a black leather collar around his neck. It was thick and supple and plain; it closed with a simple silver buckle, which Paul positioned at the base of Xander’s throat. Neil crouched in front of Xander as Paul gathered up the supplies and prepared to leave. "It’s been nice helping you, Xander," the dark man whispered. "You’ll do beautifully. Eyes down now, your Master will be with you soon." Xander cast his eyes down, and Neil patted him on the shoulder and followed Paul from the room. The door shut behind them and Xander was alone.

*****

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