Chapter 4 – Chocolate Chip Cookies
The shackles clanged shut on his wrists and Giles grunted an approval that once again their hostage was securely bound. Spike closed his eyes as he tried to fight the feeling of being a puppy that had piddled on the floor and was locked up in the bathroom because he was bad. Earlier Giles had been speaking with Buffy and they had come to the conclusion of chaining him in the bathtub while Willow babysat him. To him it was nothing more than a punishment for the girl liking him. For an entire week now they had managed to keep her away from him and only because tonight was some big gala that Olivia insisted being taken to was she even going to be allowed around him. They felt if he was in the bathroom that there would be less contact between them.
Giles stood and reached for the television at the end of the tub. "What channel would you like, Spike?"
The blonde vampire only shrugged for an answer. He didn't care. He was feeling totally emasculated and didn't even want Willow to see him like this. Chained into a bathtub was about as undignified as a Master Vampire could be and he wished he had had the strength to take a walk in the sun when this happened. Then he sighed. He wanted to exist. He just needed to figure out a way and soon so he could get away from the Slayer and her little group.
"Sorry about this, Spike. I really am but Willow is really emotionally vulnerable right now and we just don't want her developing feelings for someone that is inappropriate." Giles explained. In a way he had come to like his roommate but was still wary because in the end a vampire was a vampire.
"And why am I inappropriate? I'm neutered. She was involved with a werewolf before and Buffy was with Angel. What's wrong with me?" He asked petulantly.
"Because you wouldn't hesitate to kill us if you had the chance, you've said so quite a few times. We can't trust you to work with us without strict supervision. Don't encourage her feelings for you. Understand," Giles said in his best defensive father tone.
Spike nodded slowly. "I won't bother the little chit. Okay?" Yeah, and if she wants to bother me I am not going to stop her, he thought as he fought back a grin.
Giles nodded his approval, considered the matter solved and went out to the living room to wait for Willow to arrive.
Spike half-listened to the conversation between Olivia and Giles and what was playing on the television before him, mostly though he thought about the little red head that was driving him crazy with anticipation. When her knock finally came to the door he could have sworn his stomach knotted. Get yourself together. No reason to act like a schoolboy. He told himself as he listened to her receive instructions from Giles. Then the door closed behind the couple as they left for their date.
Then she was there, standing in the doorway of the bathroom with a big grin on her face.
"Hi, Spike."
"What are you so happy about?"
His snarky comment didn't even faze her as she came over and sat on the edge of the bathtub.
"Are you going to be nice? If you're not then I'll leave you in here all night."
"Leave me? Is there a choice?"
Her grin only got wider. "Yep. So, are you going to be nice or not?" Then she reached in her pocket and pulled out a key. "Stole it from Buffy. Well?"
"I think I've been a bad influence already." He told her seductively as he smiled back at her.
"Get me out of here and I'll be anything you want me to be."
As soon as the chains fell off, Spike reached up and pulled her down into the tub with him. She squealed as she landed on him.
"I've been wanting to do this for a really long time," he whispered as he pushed her hair back and then thoroughly and completely kissed her breathless.
When they finally broke apart she buried her face in his neck until her breathing was under control again. His hand slowly rubbed her back until she was ready to face him. It felt right to hold her against him. No matter what anyone else said this was good between them. When she was calm again she popped back up still smiling.
"I brought stuff to make cookies. Want to help?"
That was a little more innocent then what he wanted to do but he was willing to wait for her.
~~~~~~~~~
Spike sat on the kitchen counter watching Willow mix the ingredients while he kept pilfering the chocolate chips. When he reached into the bag again, she swatted at his hand.
"I like the chocolate. It's not chocolate chip cookies without the chips."
As soon as she turned her back, he threw a handful into his mouth and waited a few moments for them to melt a bit. Then he reached out to pull her against him and leaned down to kiss her. As soon as his tongue sought entrance to her mouth she opened for him and then giggled when she tasted the chocolate that coated his tongue.
Willow decided to get him back and sucked his tongue into her mouth. She didn't let him go until the entire treat was gone except for the taste that was pure Spike.
He found that he didn't want to let her go. His hands came up to cup her face as he kissed her over and over again until he was panting unnecessarily from the feelings she was giving him. Reluctantly he finally released her and held her against him for a few minutes before she pulled away and continued to mix the batch of cookies.
"I got an A on the behavior modification paper. Professor Walsh liked the fact I did it from the subjects point of view instead of the person doing the modifying. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Spike told her sincerely. "Why did you stay here in Sunnydale? You could have gone to college anywhere."
Willow started to drop the dough on the cookie sheet then she shrugged.
"I wanted to help Buffy. To help change the world in a way I was comfortable." She hesitated a minute, "and I wanted to study Wicca. And being on the Hell Mouth seemed like a good place to do it with all the mystical energy."
She waited for a laugh or some sarcasm that was Spike but it wasn't forthcoming.
"Have you studied with a coven or an experienced witch?"
"No, just what I could find, and from Giles' books and from him. He doesn't like it when I do magic though."
"Ask him to direct you to witches that can help you harness your power. If he won't I will."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Willow turned and slipped the filled cookie sheet into the oven then took a seat on the opposite counter. "I don't think I'm that powerful."
Spike laughed, "You're joking right." When she looked at him in surprise, he continued, "You have got a hell of a lot of power. You made me want that bint of a Slayer. It simmers in you, Love. I can feel it."
He slid off the counter and came to stand between her legs with his hands on her hips.
"Is that bad? Does that make me a bad witch? Like in evil, bad?"
"No, it doesn't make you bad. Magic isn't bad or good, it's the witch and what she does with it that decides that."
"How do you know so much?" Willow asked suspiciously. Even if she wasn't sure of what his motives were she found her hands locked together behind his neck.
"I'm a vampire. Lived in the world of other vampires, demons and witches for a long time now." He leaned forward to nuzzle her neck softly, "that power is one of the reasons that makes me like you so much."
It felt good for both of them just to be close together but they knew they needed to temper their passions for right now.
"And why else do you like me?" Willow whispered.
"I like you because you taste good, you feed me," Spike pulled back to look up into her eyes. "I like your intelligence and your bravery and that little touch of badness in you, too."
"I'm not bad."
"Yes, you are. You let me loose tonight when you weren't supposed to, that makes you very bad."
She laughed at his playfulness then pushed him gently away so she could get the cookies out before they burned. She slid them off the sheet onto a waiting platter then fixed another sheet as Spike tossed a done cookie between his hands so he could eat it. When she was done and had once again given him her focus he asked, "So, pet, what do you like about me?"
Her eyes dropped not because she didn't know how to answer but because it was a question that she had played over and over in her mind.
"I like you because you see who I am and seem to accept me that way even the things that I want to be one day. You like the same movies I do and you eat the food I bring." She hesitated as a slow blush crept over her face, "and I like you because you're beautiful and you're bad even when you're not really."
Spike cocked his head at the last phase but when she looked up at him again he could see the truth in her eyes. She saw him as he could be, as the man he had always wanted to be deep in his heart and he knew then that he loved her. And that he wanted to be that man for her.
Tears filled his eyes as she walked over to him and cupped his face with her small hands and gave him the purest kiss that a woman could give a man. A kiss of belief and he swore to himself that he would find a way for him to be able to claim her in pride.
"Come on, we need to get this kitchen cleaned up and you back in the bathtub before Giles gets back." She said as she started in on the mess she had made.
Spike helped her by putting things away and wiping the counters as she washed the utensils. Once everything was done he went willingly back into the bathtub where she fastened the chains on him again.
By the time that Giles came home, the house was clean, Spike was watching a boring show about antiques on the television in the bathroom and Willow was in the living room reading one of her books for her literature class. She left the flat that night knowing that she was in love and had to find a way to have the courage to tell her friends and stand up for what she believed was the right relationship for her.
TBC
