Chapter 6 Breaking Them
Buffy woke with a groan when her alarm chimed. She had gotten about four hours of sleep since she had spent a better part of the night in the kitchen. With Spike. She smiled remembering how sweet he had been. She got up, washed her face, brushed her teeth and headed downstairs. There, she noticed the rest of the house's occupants, had already left for the stable. She guzzled down the already cooling coffee waiting for her in the kitchen, with a grimace, before hurrying after them.
The stables were full of life. People scurrying back and forth to tend to the horses while the horses themselves hung their heads out of the stalls, stomping their feet against the walls, gnawing at the wood or making any sound they could come up with, trying to get attention and maybe influence the people to tend to them first.
A bay stallion, with a white broad stripe down its forehead, which looked considerably more relaxed than the others caught Buffy's attention. She walked up to it and held her hand out to it to let it smell her. The horse drew breath audibly through his nostrils before exhaling. It then flattened its ears back before pointing them forward again, obviously confused, as to how it was suppose to act.
"Better watch your hand there, missy. ", Ethan Rayne, the stable master called out to Buffy. "That is one bad-tempered stallion. *That* is California Pride", Ethan continued before pausing dramatically again. A wicked smile curved his lips in a way that Buffy found incredibly disturbing. The horse snorted and stomped its leg loudly against the wall, when it became aware of Ethan. Obviously feeling discomfort in the man's presence.
Buffy winced in sympathy for the horse, as Ethan whipped the horse in the face for no reason what so ever. The horse on the other hand, became infuriated and launched its own attack, its airs flattened and going for Ethan with its teeth. The horse forgot about the current confines of his stall and could not reach Ethan. Ethan let out a cackle, Buffy thought eerily resembled some old movie villain's.
Ethan Rayne shook his head, before still smiling, starting his way down the stable aisle. "Oh and before I forget. He'll be your first today" He shouted, not bothering turning around or stopping in his track. "Gear up!" He sang out to everyone.
Buffy stood in shock still pointing at herself in disbelief. Sure she had heard Giles mention her in his conversation with Angel O'Toole and Giles had said they wanted her to try California Pride, but wasn't this a little bit soon?
She turned back to a currently very angry stallion. He was neighing lowly, snorting, throwing his head and scraping his hooves to the door. "Oh joy", Buffy muttered under her breath. She started down the aisle to her locker, to retrieve her gear. She stopped as she heard a furious yell coming out of one of the stalls.
"Bloody Hell!", the voice, the accent and the phrases used let little to Buffy's imagination as to who was yelling.
"Who was in here last!?" Spike came out of a stall, still fuming and pointed back to it where a red mare stood tied up. "Who had Crazy Reels last?", he rephrased his question.
"I-I did. I t-took her out to the paddocks last", a girl with mousy blonde hair, Buffy had never noticed before, stuttered out while looking shyly down. Spike briskly made his way over to her.
"Well Tara. Did you bother to check if he still had his shoes on when you came in? Huh?" Spike asked in a very snide voice with a very fake smile plastered to his face.
"I'm sorry. I-I must have forgot", Tara had her head bowed forward still. She raised her tearful eyes to meet Spike's briefly. Spike clenched his jaw in anger.
"Are you daft woman? I can't bloody well ride him without his shoes on, now can I?", he spat at Tara. Buffy noticed that Tara flinched when Spike threw his arms in the air.
"Spike!", Faith interrupted them sharply. She made her way over to them, before positioning herself between them facing Spike, hands placed firmly on her hips "Give her a fucking rest will you! It's no big deal. Just get the blacksmith and you can take Crazy Reels out on the second lot! I know that Drusilla arriving *is* bothering you, but that doesn't give you an excuse to behave like a total jackass!" Faith was poking her index finger in Spike's chest as she finished.
Spike lowered his head and rubbed his hands in a cleansing movement across his face. He acknowledged that Faith was right and he was overreacting. "I'm sorry"
"Hey I'm not the one you owe an apology to", Faith answered throwing her hands up, stepping out of the way.
"Tara. I'm truly sorry. I just have a lot on my mind. Are we ok?", Spike spoke softly to Tara taking her hand in his. The girl nodded in response. The movement caused a tear to trickle down her cheek. And it tore Spike that he was the cause. He took hold of her and embraced her in a comforting hug.
"Shh, pet. Didn't mean to loose my temper. I'm sorry. Please don't cry. Everybody makes mistakes. Remember that time when I forgot to tighten the girth and wound up underneath the horse instead of on top of it?"
Tara let out a soft chuckle at remembering and wiped her tears before extracting herself from his arms. "I know. Everything's ok". She turned and headed to the stables downstairs. Spike looked up to see Buffy standing a few feet away. He cringed inwardly as he waited to see what kind of reaction she would have to his little temperamental outburst.
He audibly sighed in relief when she just gave him one of her sweet smiles. He smiled back before going off in search of one of the on-ground blacksmiths. Buffy had quelled the little green-eyed monster threatening to make an appearance at seeing Spike hugging another woman and instead let her reason figure out that it was nothing more than a friendly act.
Less than 15 minutes later Buffy found herself having a hard time trying to stay on top of a very pissed stallion that preferred not to have anyone riding him. It wouldn't be so hard if it weren't for the fact that California Pride was really sly. The second she had mounted up on him he had started off running. Buffy pulled him to a halt and then he reared, quickly followed by a fly-jump.
By then Buffy was beginning to expect the worst. To her surprise Pride calmed like nothing had ever happened and walked lazily down to the track. When Buffy began to relax again, he immediately started to do a series of bucks that caused her to topple over and fall off. She sat up in the dirt sputtering sand out of her mouth glaring at the horse that stood there mocking her.
Buffy could have sworn that if he were human he would have tilted his head, grinned at her and said; 'Are you coming or not?' Either that or a good, old-fashioned 'na-nana-na-na'
"Why you little.", she angrily muttered before glaring at the other riders who were chuckling at her. She got up, dusted off the sand and remounted the horse again. To her embarrassment she saw Giles for the first time that morning. The lot headed into the center and started warming up.
"Don't worry about it Buffy. To this day I haven't seen one rider that has been able to stay on, when he does his series." Giles shouted from his position, leaning against a pickup truck 20 feet from where the horses were warming up.
"Hey. You survived this part of his antics. Beware though. He's a pretty mean puller on the track as well", a man behind Buffy told her. Buffy turned her head carefully, to not provoke Pride and see who had spoken to her.
The owner of the voice was a pretty good-looking guy, with dark hair and beautiful blue eyes as a contrast.
"Oh, by the way I'm Parker. You're Buffy, right? I'd shake your hand, but I think we probably have our hands full with these two beasts", he gestured with a tilt with his head to the two horses. California Pride decided at that moment that he was feeling bored and did a fly kick to entertain himself. Buffy had her guard up and managed to stay on.
"I guess you're right", she smiled back at Parker when she had managed to calm Pride. "And thanks for the warning" she added.
Buffy and Parker was paired up and headed out to the dirt track after Giles had given them their riding orders. Buffy immediately understood what Parker had meant. California Pride curled up his neck and used his muscles there to try to gain leverage. Buffy thought that if she had to hold back the powerful horse for much longer, her arms would rip off. She sighed in relief, after a round when they came up to the mark that indicated they could let their horses go at full speed.
Parker was at her side and their horses increased their pace as equals. They were racing each other as the sound of heavy horse breathing, hooves pounding the dirt in a frenzied tempo and wind, passing them by, was the only the only sounds they could hear. Parker began to ride his horse in earnest and soon gained a length on Buffy and Pride.
'Nah-ah. This *is* supposed to be the best horse in the stables so I'm not about to be beat by *you*', Buffy thought as she too, began to give it her all. She gained the length on Parker a few seconds after and grinned over to him when she found that she could push Pride even further. And push she did.
Buffy felt amazing. It was like she had channeled some hidden power inside herself to make California Pride go faster than Buffy had ever made a horse go before. The taste of power and speed had indeed a sweetness to it.
When she crossed the finish line she looked back and saw that she had at least twenty lengths on Parker. After much struggle with Pride she managed to pull him down to slow canter. She exited the track and left for the center again. To get the horse to cool down, she just walked it around. Buffy was amazed as she realized that Pride was in no way exhausted. She played with the thought that maybe she could have pushed him at that pace for even longer.
She smiled and petted California Pride. Parker came in to the circle behind her and complimented her on a job well done. Her attention soon diverted from Parker to a man formerly known as Rupert Giles, now jumping up an d down and shouting incoherent words of joy, occasionally throwing in a 'Yes!'.
After calming himself Giles made his way over to the pair, holding up a timer as if it were a price. He smiled widely at Buffy when he reached her. "That", he said pointing over to the turf ,"was a 12 furlong run. And you just did it in 2 minutes and 23 seconds! Do you know what that means Buffy!?", he asked still grinning. Buffy furrowed her brow as to try to remember what on earth the overly excited man was hinting to. A wide smile formed across her face and her eyes became wide as well when realization hit her.
Giles didn't allow her to utter the words herself. "Secreteriat, 1973, 12 furlongs at 2 min 24 seconds. That is *still* to this day, a world record and you just beat it!", he shouted excitedly, startling the horses as he did. "I have to go call Angel O'Toole. I know that this is a dirt track and there have been horses that have beaten this time on dirt before. And maybe this just was one of those good days. And this isn't official. But still! I knew this horse had potential. Bloody amazing potential.", he rambled on, making his way over to his truck.
"I think a little celebration time is coming up, huh B?", Faith asked as she had come into the center with her horse just in time to listen in on Giles' excited rants.
"Yeah. How about we throw you a little gathering over at the barracks tonight?", Parker asked. Buffy just grinned in response.
The second, third, and fourth lot, of that day, Buffy spent in a haze. Her grin was permanent. On her fourth lot she didn't head down to the track. Buffy, Spike, Faith had been given orders to take out some two year olds for a stroll in the woods instead.
It was beautiful and a peaceful and since the horse she was riding was calm she took advantage of the moment to remove her legs from the stirrups to stretch.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to train this much", she groaned as a slight jab of pain tore through her from the soreness of her muscles.
"You'll get used to it, pet. And if you'd like, I could help you out with those sore muscles of yours. I know ways of making you forget them.", Spike teased and gave her a wink. He had long ago congratulated her. Buffy found herself blushing for the umpteenth time in Spike's presence, because she caught the insinuation of what he said. They were riding side by side with Faith a couple of lengths ahead of them.
She decided to not play fair, since he obviously wasn't. She spread her legs wide and started to rub the inside of her thigh in slow motion. "Gee thanks, Spike. That is very generous of you. You think you might be able to help me out with this particularly sore spot right here?" she drawled in a sultry voice, letting her index finger come to rest just on the inside where her thigh started. Short two inches from her sex. She topped it off with a little eyelash flutter and pouty, slightly parted lips
She got a wicked tint to her grin as she saw Spike gulp and stop his horse. She knew that what she had said had crossed the border of innuendo. Buffy brought her horse to a calm trot to catch up to Faith.
Spike and his red gelding stood still for a few seconds. He was struck dumbfounded by Buffy's comments. 'Balls. That little blonde just made a come on and I acted like a poof with no witty retort. Double balls. How am I going to ride this horse when I have *this* predicament', he thought when his jeans suddenly became very tight at his crotch.
"So you will be wanting a nude massage then, Summers?", he asked as he brought his horse to a trot, to catch up to them. His bravado recovered.
******
After dinner, the same afternoon, Faith and Buffy found them selves in Buffy's room. Faith rummaging through Buffy's closet to find Buffy the perfect attire for their evening down in the barracks.
"How about this?", Faith asked holding up a really short black skirt and a very revealing, red tube top.
"No way! I want to wear clothes the first time I meet the guys that actually cover my body" Buffy's eyes were wide looking at the small scraps of clothing the brunette was holding up. Faith shrugged her shoulders and left Buffy's room.
"Where are you going?" Buffy asked a little afraid that she had somehow managed to piss off Faith. Faith entered her own room and pulled out of her own closet a pair of black leather pants.
"To find this" she said as she tossed them at the blonde." Now shooh! Hit the showers, dress in this and the tube top. If you still think it's too revealing put on the black shirt I saw in your closet, on top. " the brunette ordered Buffy as she made her way out of the room and into the bathroom the two girls shared.
"Ehm, Faith? Seeing as you're about to undress and step into our shower, it might be a good idea for me to wait?" Buffy questioned as Faith kicked her shoes and pants off. Faith shrugged in return.
"Why don't you use Spike's? Here." Buffy barely managed to catch the toiletry bag Faith tossed her.
"He won't mind?" Buffy asked. Silently adding 'And why can't you *hand* people stuff?'
"Why would he?" Faith answered busying herself with removing the rest of her clothing.
'One thing is for sure. Faith is *not* a shy person' Buffy shook her head, giggling softly as she made her way down the hall to Spike's bathroom. She opened the door and stepped in. She removed her top and jeans and started removing her mascara, clad only in her bra and panties. She noticed that the mirror she was facing was fogged and took her towel to wipe the dampness off.
"Eep", she squealed as she wiped the mirror and a towel clad Spike carrying a smirk came into view The exact moment she turned around he dashed across the bathroom and placed his hands on each side of her, pressing her up against the counter.
"Come to collect on your massage, luv?" he purred in her ear. The closeness and his husky voice made a pleasant shiver run through her body. She clenched her eyes, more to stop the naughty images of deliciously naked Spike and a full body rundown, than in agitation. It was kind of hard not to picture Spike naked, as the white towel he had tucked around his hips slowly slid down. She opened her eyes and groaned, when she saw that he still stood there, all tanned, chiseled chest, washboard abs and lip biting. She swallowed thinking she wanted a little nibble of that full, soft bottom lip herself.
"What. Are you doing here?", she opted for as she finally managed to hoist her tongue off the green tiled floor. He looked casually around the bathroom before once again staring back at her with dark blue eyes.
"Last time I checked this was *my* bathroom, so my question would be what are *you* doing here?" He looked at her with arched eyebrows.
"Um. I.Um..I. Well I..", she stuttered. She was having a hard enough time trying to form intelligent words, let alone trying to remember what she was doing there in the first place, under his questioning gaze. She was drawn to his blue orbs like she never had been to anyone else's before. 'Damn his beautiful blue eyes'
Spike saw the way she was looking at him and his ego was only boosted to new heights. This still didn't keep him from startling when he felt her fingertips hesitantly reaching up to touch his face. He blinked before looking back into her blue-green, twinkling eyes. He let his own hand travel down her jaw line with his gaze following, before trailing down her throat and neck
He swallowed when he came into contact with her lace bra strap. Forcing him to once again look over her beautiful body that was standing there only in white, lace underwear.
Buffy immediately froze up. 'Ohmigod! I'm in my underwear! Ohmigod, ohmigod! She grabbed the nearest towel and tucked it around herself, before turning around and forcing her gaze not to travel to Spike's confused face.
"What I meant was, I didn't see you when I got in here. And I needed a shower, but Faith is in ours" she explained while continuing to remove her make-up. The moment was gone.
"Oh, I was standing behind the door. So I guess I will leave you to your shower then?" At her nodding response he added. "One thing Buffy." Buffy turned around since it was unusual for him to use her real name. 'What' she mouthed.
"Never be ashamed of your body. I've seen it up close even less clothed remember? And believe me you have *nothing* to be ashamed of." His voice was sincere and Buffy became flabbergasted yet again. Spike stopped her stuttering with a kiss. He didn't deepen it, but kept his lips over hers for a few seconds before pulling back. He knew very well that if he didn't he could not control himself from deepening it. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her air before backing up and leaving a stunned Buffy.
'What was it I was doing here again? Shower. I need a cold, cold shower' she thought as she locked the door.
Buffy woke with a groan when her alarm chimed. She had gotten about four hours of sleep since she had spent a better part of the night in the kitchen. With Spike. She smiled remembering how sweet he had been. She got up, washed her face, brushed her teeth and headed downstairs. There, she noticed the rest of the house's occupants, had already left for the stable. She guzzled down the already cooling coffee waiting for her in the kitchen, with a grimace, before hurrying after them.
The stables were full of life. People scurrying back and forth to tend to the horses while the horses themselves hung their heads out of the stalls, stomping their feet against the walls, gnawing at the wood or making any sound they could come up with, trying to get attention and maybe influence the people to tend to them first.
A bay stallion, with a white broad stripe down its forehead, which looked considerably more relaxed than the others caught Buffy's attention. She walked up to it and held her hand out to it to let it smell her. The horse drew breath audibly through his nostrils before exhaling. It then flattened its ears back before pointing them forward again, obviously confused, as to how it was suppose to act.
"Better watch your hand there, missy. ", Ethan Rayne, the stable master called out to Buffy. "That is one bad-tempered stallion. *That* is California Pride", Ethan continued before pausing dramatically again. A wicked smile curved his lips in a way that Buffy found incredibly disturbing. The horse snorted and stomped its leg loudly against the wall, when it became aware of Ethan. Obviously feeling discomfort in the man's presence.
Buffy winced in sympathy for the horse, as Ethan whipped the horse in the face for no reason what so ever. The horse on the other hand, became infuriated and launched its own attack, its airs flattened and going for Ethan with its teeth. The horse forgot about the current confines of his stall and could not reach Ethan. Ethan let out a cackle, Buffy thought eerily resembled some old movie villain's.
Ethan Rayne shook his head, before still smiling, starting his way down the stable aisle. "Oh and before I forget. He'll be your first today" He shouted, not bothering turning around or stopping in his track. "Gear up!" He sang out to everyone.
Buffy stood in shock still pointing at herself in disbelief. Sure she had heard Giles mention her in his conversation with Angel O'Toole and Giles had said they wanted her to try California Pride, but wasn't this a little bit soon?
She turned back to a currently very angry stallion. He was neighing lowly, snorting, throwing his head and scraping his hooves to the door. "Oh joy", Buffy muttered under her breath. She started down the aisle to her locker, to retrieve her gear. She stopped as she heard a furious yell coming out of one of the stalls.
"Bloody Hell!", the voice, the accent and the phrases used let little to Buffy's imagination as to who was yelling.
"Who was in here last!?" Spike came out of a stall, still fuming and pointed back to it where a red mare stood tied up. "Who had Crazy Reels last?", he rephrased his question.
"I-I did. I t-took her out to the paddocks last", a girl with mousy blonde hair, Buffy had never noticed before, stuttered out while looking shyly down. Spike briskly made his way over to her.
"Well Tara. Did you bother to check if he still had his shoes on when you came in? Huh?" Spike asked in a very snide voice with a very fake smile plastered to his face.
"I'm sorry. I-I must have forgot", Tara had her head bowed forward still. She raised her tearful eyes to meet Spike's briefly. Spike clenched his jaw in anger.
"Are you daft woman? I can't bloody well ride him without his shoes on, now can I?", he spat at Tara. Buffy noticed that Tara flinched when Spike threw his arms in the air.
"Spike!", Faith interrupted them sharply. She made her way over to them, before positioning herself between them facing Spike, hands placed firmly on her hips "Give her a fucking rest will you! It's no big deal. Just get the blacksmith and you can take Crazy Reels out on the second lot! I know that Drusilla arriving *is* bothering you, but that doesn't give you an excuse to behave like a total jackass!" Faith was poking her index finger in Spike's chest as she finished.
Spike lowered his head and rubbed his hands in a cleansing movement across his face. He acknowledged that Faith was right and he was overreacting. "I'm sorry"
"Hey I'm not the one you owe an apology to", Faith answered throwing her hands up, stepping out of the way.
"Tara. I'm truly sorry. I just have a lot on my mind. Are we ok?", Spike spoke softly to Tara taking her hand in his. The girl nodded in response. The movement caused a tear to trickle down her cheek. And it tore Spike that he was the cause. He took hold of her and embraced her in a comforting hug.
"Shh, pet. Didn't mean to loose my temper. I'm sorry. Please don't cry. Everybody makes mistakes. Remember that time when I forgot to tighten the girth and wound up underneath the horse instead of on top of it?"
Tara let out a soft chuckle at remembering and wiped her tears before extracting herself from his arms. "I know. Everything's ok". She turned and headed to the stables downstairs. Spike looked up to see Buffy standing a few feet away. He cringed inwardly as he waited to see what kind of reaction she would have to his little temperamental outburst.
He audibly sighed in relief when she just gave him one of her sweet smiles. He smiled back before going off in search of one of the on-ground blacksmiths. Buffy had quelled the little green-eyed monster threatening to make an appearance at seeing Spike hugging another woman and instead let her reason figure out that it was nothing more than a friendly act.
Less than 15 minutes later Buffy found herself having a hard time trying to stay on top of a very pissed stallion that preferred not to have anyone riding him. It wouldn't be so hard if it weren't for the fact that California Pride was really sly. The second she had mounted up on him he had started off running. Buffy pulled him to a halt and then he reared, quickly followed by a fly-jump.
By then Buffy was beginning to expect the worst. To her surprise Pride calmed like nothing had ever happened and walked lazily down to the track. When Buffy began to relax again, he immediately started to do a series of bucks that caused her to topple over and fall off. She sat up in the dirt sputtering sand out of her mouth glaring at the horse that stood there mocking her.
Buffy could have sworn that if he were human he would have tilted his head, grinned at her and said; 'Are you coming or not?' Either that or a good, old-fashioned 'na-nana-na-na'
"Why you little.", she angrily muttered before glaring at the other riders who were chuckling at her. She got up, dusted off the sand and remounted the horse again. To her embarrassment she saw Giles for the first time that morning. The lot headed into the center and started warming up.
"Don't worry about it Buffy. To this day I haven't seen one rider that has been able to stay on, when he does his series." Giles shouted from his position, leaning against a pickup truck 20 feet from where the horses were warming up.
"Hey. You survived this part of his antics. Beware though. He's a pretty mean puller on the track as well", a man behind Buffy told her. Buffy turned her head carefully, to not provoke Pride and see who had spoken to her.
The owner of the voice was a pretty good-looking guy, with dark hair and beautiful blue eyes as a contrast.
"Oh, by the way I'm Parker. You're Buffy, right? I'd shake your hand, but I think we probably have our hands full with these two beasts", he gestured with a tilt with his head to the two horses. California Pride decided at that moment that he was feeling bored and did a fly kick to entertain himself. Buffy had her guard up and managed to stay on.
"I guess you're right", she smiled back at Parker when she had managed to calm Pride. "And thanks for the warning" she added.
Buffy and Parker was paired up and headed out to the dirt track after Giles had given them their riding orders. Buffy immediately understood what Parker had meant. California Pride curled up his neck and used his muscles there to try to gain leverage. Buffy thought that if she had to hold back the powerful horse for much longer, her arms would rip off. She sighed in relief, after a round when they came up to the mark that indicated they could let their horses go at full speed.
Parker was at her side and their horses increased their pace as equals. They were racing each other as the sound of heavy horse breathing, hooves pounding the dirt in a frenzied tempo and wind, passing them by, was the only the only sounds they could hear. Parker began to ride his horse in earnest and soon gained a length on Buffy and Pride.
'Nah-ah. This *is* supposed to be the best horse in the stables so I'm not about to be beat by *you*', Buffy thought as she too, began to give it her all. She gained the length on Parker a few seconds after and grinned over to him when she found that she could push Pride even further. And push she did.
Buffy felt amazing. It was like she had channeled some hidden power inside herself to make California Pride go faster than Buffy had ever made a horse go before. The taste of power and speed had indeed a sweetness to it.
When she crossed the finish line she looked back and saw that she had at least twenty lengths on Parker. After much struggle with Pride she managed to pull him down to slow canter. She exited the track and left for the center again. To get the horse to cool down, she just walked it around. Buffy was amazed as she realized that Pride was in no way exhausted. She played with the thought that maybe she could have pushed him at that pace for even longer.
She smiled and petted California Pride. Parker came in to the circle behind her and complimented her on a job well done. Her attention soon diverted from Parker to a man formerly known as Rupert Giles, now jumping up an d down and shouting incoherent words of joy, occasionally throwing in a 'Yes!'.
After calming himself Giles made his way over to the pair, holding up a timer as if it were a price. He smiled widely at Buffy when he reached her. "That", he said pointing over to the turf ,"was a 12 furlong run. And you just did it in 2 minutes and 23 seconds! Do you know what that means Buffy!?", he asked still grinning. Buffy furrowed her brow as to try to remember what on earth the overly excited man was hinting to. A wide smile formed across her face and her eyes became wide as well when realization hit her.
Giles didn't allow her to utter the words herself. "Secreteriat, 1973, 12 furlongs at 2 min 24 seconds. That is *still* to this day, a world record and you just beat it!", he shouted excitedly, startling the horses as he did. "I have to go call Angel O'Toole. I know that this is a dirt track and there have been horses that have beaten this time on dirt before. And maybe this just was one of those good days. And this isn't official. But still! I knew this horse had potential. Bloody amazing potential.", he rambled on, making his way over to his truck.
"I think a little celebration time is coming up, huh B?", Faith asked as she had come into the center with her horse just in time to listen in on Giles' excited rants.
"Yeah. How about we throw you a little gathering over at the barracks tonight?", Parker asked. Buffy just grinned in response.
The second, third, and fourth lot, of that day, Buffy spent in a haze. Her grin was permanent. On her fourth lot she didn't head down to the track. Buffy, Spike, Faith had been given orders to take out some two year olds for a stroll in the woods instead.
It was beautiful and a peaceful and since the horse she was riding was calm she took advantage of the moment to remove her legs from the stirrups to stretch.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to train this much", she groaned as a slight jab of pain tore through her from the soreness of her muscles.
"You'll get used to it, pet. And if you'd like, I could help you out with those sore muscles of yours. I know ways of making you forget them.", Spike teased and gave her a wink. He had long ago congratulated her. Buffy found herself blushing for the umpteenth time in Spike's presence, because she caught the insinuation of what he said. They were riding side by side with Faith a couple of lengths ahead of them.
She decided to not play fair, since he obviously wasn't. She spread her legs wide and started to rub the inside of her thigh in slow motion. "Gee thanks, Spike. That is very generous of you. You think you might be able to help me out with this particularly sore spot right here?" she drawled in a sultry voice, letting her index finger come to rest just on the inside where her thigh started. Short two inches from her sex. She topped it off with a little eyelash flutter and pouty, slightly parted lips
She got a wicked tint to her grin as she saw Spike gulp and stop his horse. She knew that what she had said had crossed the border of innuendo. Buffy brought her horse to a calm trot to catch up to Faith.
Spike and his red gelding stood still for a few seconds. He was struck dumbfounded by Buffy's comments. 'Balls. That little blonde just made a come on and I acted like a poof with no witty retort. Double balls. How am I going to ride this horse when I have *this* predicament', he thought when his jeans suddenly became very tight at his crotch.
"So you will be wanting a nude massage then, Summers?", he asked as he brought his horse to a trot, to catch up to them. His bravado recovered.
******
After dinner, the same afternoon, Faith and Buffy found them selves in Buffy's room. Faith rummaging through Buffy's closet to find Buffy the perfect attire for their evening down in the barracks.
"How about this?", Faith asked holding up a really short black skirt and a very revealing, red tube top.
"No way! I want to wear clothes the first time I meet the guys that actually cover my body" Buffy's eyes were wide looking at the small scraps of clothing the brunette was holding up. Faith shrugged her shoulders and left Buffy's room.
"Where are you going?" Buffy asked a little afraid that she had somehow managed to piss off Faith. Faith entered her own room and pulled out of her own closet a pair of black leather pants.
"To find this" she said as she tossed them at the blonde." Now shooh! Hit the showers, dress in this and the tube top. If you still think it's too revealing put on the black shirt I saw in your closet, on top. " the brunette ordered Buffy as she made her way out of the room and into the bathroom the two girls shared.
"Ehm, Faith? Seeing as you're about to undress and step into our shower, it might be a good idea for me to wait?" Buffy questioned as Faith kicked her shoes and pants off. Faith shrugged in return.
"Why don't you use Spike's? Here." Buffy barely managed to catch the toiletry bag Faith tossed her.
"He won't mind?" Buffy asked. Silently adding 'And why can't you *hand* people stuff?'
"Why would he?" Faith answered busying herself with removing the rest of her clothing.
'One thing is for sure. Faith is *not* a shy person' Buffy shook her head, giggling softly as she made her way down the hall to Spike's bathroom. She opened the door and stepped in. She removed her top and jeans and started removing her mascara, clad only in her bra and panties. She noticed that the mirror she was facing was fogged and took her towel to wipe the dampness off.
"Eep", she squealed as she wiped the mirror and a towel clad Spike carrying a smirk came into view The exact moment she turned around he dashed across the bathroom and placed his hands on each side of her, pressing her up against the counter.
"Come to collect on your massage, luv?" he purred in her ear. The closeness and his husky voice made a pleasant shiver run through her body. She clenched her eyes, more to stop the naughty images of deliciously naked Spike and a full body rundown, than in agitation. It was kind of hard not to picture Spike naked, as the white towel he had tucked around his hips slowly slid down. She opened her eyes and groaned, when she saw that he still stood there, all tanned, chiseled chest, washboard abs and lip biting. She swallowed thinking she wanted a little nibble of that full, soft bottom lip herself.
"What. Are you doing here?", she opted for as she finally managed to hoist her tongue off the green tiled floor. He looked casually around the bathroom before once again staring back at her with dark blue eyes.
"Last time I checked this was *my* bathroom, so my question would be what are *you* doing here?" He looked at her with arched eyebrows.
"Um. I.Um..I. Well I..", she stuttered. She was having a hard enough time trying to form intelligent words, let alone trying to remember what she was doing there in the first place, under his questioning gaze. She was drawn to his blue orbs like she never had been to anyone else's before. 'Damn his beautiful blue eyes'
Spike saw the way she was looking at him and his ego was only boosted to new heights. This still didn't keep him from startling when he felt her fingertips hesitantly reaching up to touch his face. He blinked before looking back into her blue-green, twinkling eyes. He let his own hand travel down her jaw line with his gaze following, before trailing down her throat and neck
He swallowed when he came into contact with her lace bra strap. Forcing him to once again look over her beautiful body that was standing there only in white, lace underwear.
Buffy immediately froze up. 'Ohmigod! I'm in my underwear! Ohmigod, ohmigod! She grabbed the nearest towel and tucked it around herself, before turning around and forcing her gaze not to travel to Spike's confused face.
"What I meant was, I didn't see you when I got in here. And I needed a shower, but Faith is in ours" she explained while continuing to remove her make-up. The moment was gone.
"Oh, I was standing behind the door. So I guess I will leave you to your shower then?" At her nodding response he added. "One thing Buffy." Buffy turned around since it was unusual for him to use her real name. 'What' she mouthed.
"Never be ashamed of your body. I've seen it up close even less clothed remember? And believe me you have *nothing* to be ashamed of." His voice was sincere and Buffy became flabbergasted yet again. Spike stopped her stuttering with a kiss. He didn't deepen it, but kept his lips over hers for a few seconds before pulling back. He knew very well that if he didn't he could not control himself from deepening it. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her air before backing up and leaving a stunned Buffy.
'What was it I was doing here again? Shower. I need a cold, cold shower' she thought as she locked the door.