Chapter 9: Mr and Mrs O'Toole
Like she had said, Willow came down the Friday night, just in time for dinner. At the dinner table, she discussed classic riding versus racing with Giles, whilst watching the exchange of lusty glances between Buffy and Spike- Spike doing less to conceal them than Buffy.
'Oh yeah. The U.S.T in this room could cut through glass like it was warm butter,' Willow thought while glancing back and forth between Spike and Buffy. Giles was of course completely oblivious. Or so it seemed to Willow. On the other hand, Faith and Spike seemed to be enjoying themselves a little bit too much at Buffy's squirming expense.
After dinner, Willow and Buffy headed up to Buffy's room to catch up. Buffy barely managed to close the door before Willow giddily pounced on her with questions.
"What's the deal with you and Spike? Have there been smooches? Have there been more?" Willow quirked as Buffy's face paled visibly. Buffy was not feeling very good about the fact that everyone seemed to pick up on some vibe from her and Spike.
"What do you mean?" Buffy tried to act nonchalant while picking up clothes around the room. She couldn't look her best friend in the eyes because she knew Willow would know she was dodging the subject.
"Nuh-uh" Willow took a hold of Buffy's elbow stopping her actions. "You're going to spill and your going to spill now! See?, This is my resolve face. Make no mistake- I will not budge on the subject 'till I know it all." Willow said gesturing to her face etched with unmistakable determination. Seeing Buffy sigh and about to give in, Willow smiled a satisfied grin and sat down on Buffy's bed patting it in front of her for Buffy to take a seat. Buffy took a seat and both girls sat facing each other, cross-legged.
Well on Buffy's half, facing would be an exaggeration. She was too busy picking of lint from the green bedspread.
"Dish, girl!" Willow demanded when she felt she was about to loose her patience.
"Fine!" Buffy threw her hands up in defeat. "I'll admit that Spike is a good looking guy. I'll even go further and admit I'm incredibly turned on by him. But, but there's the whole unresolved Riley issue and- and well Spike and I kissed and it felt all right, but all wrong and afterwards he's been real sweet and not really tried much and-"
"What do you mean, not much and Riley? Pfft, forget about him. What happened between you two is called breaking up and you're free to do as you choose. As for Spike not "trying much" I'm guessing it's because -if I know you, and I DO- you ran away screaming after the kiss, right?" Buffy couldn't help but smile at Willows accurate description. "Well who can blame him for being a bit skittish about making a move when you ran the first time?" the redhead continued.
"Are you sure about me and Riley being really over? I mean you're the one who told me he came back after I left. I know we're over BUT does HE?" Buffy worried her lip between her teeth.
"Hey, now. None of that." Willow paused and gave Buffy a supportive squeeze on the shoulder. "Yes, I'm positive that he understands that you are over. You haven't given him the slightest indication otherwise since you left. And, look, you haven't had those good tingly feelings for him in a long, long time. As for Spike, it's written all over your face that there are major tingles going on. Uber tingles even." Willow finished with a nod.
"Yeah, definite tingle all right." Buffy paused and sighed, "So what do I do now?" she asked after a few seconds had passed.
"I'm thinking dragging in a third party named Faith to make a battle plan. After all she knows him better than we do."
*****
Saturday morning, Spike reached the peak of crankiness. The fact that two short weeks ago his home was ruled by testosterone and now had three girls giggling like teens did nothing to help his mood. It had all been going on since the previous night, Buffy, Faith and Willow had occupied the den- where the TV was housed. The girls didn't budge, declaring the den as theirs for the evening. All because they wanted to see Dirty Dancing and swoon over what Patrick Swayze looked like in his glory days.
Spike had bit back the urge to mutter something about terrible chick flicks because he knew that Faith wouldn't hesitate to bring up his obsession for "Passions". Hardly a very masculine soap and he knew that Faith would love to point that out to him. He had grumpily sat down in the leather couch beside Buffy, snatching a handful of popcorn from the bowl perched in her lap. He was just about to point out just how terrible their movie choice was when he looked at Faith standing in front of the TV with one hand at the hip and the other pointed at the door while eyeing Spike with determination. 2 minutes and a lot of yelling later he had been tossed out of the den.
The night had gone from bad to worse as he could hear from his room all the giggling and girlishness that went on in the den. He couldn't hear every word being said, but at some point he was sure he heard his name mentioned by Faith, followed by laughter. He panicked slightly pondering what embarrassing moments Faith could bring up. He went to sleep trying to not worry that Faith was making a fool of him in front of Buffy
Now that Saturday was here, Spike was becoming more and more annoyed with the girls. They were out showing Willow the stables and helping out the staff that was cut in half for the weekend.
No, Spike didn't like this at all. Faith and Willow had been smirking at him at breakfast in a very disturbing way. That and the fact that the hour of doom was probably less than two hours away. Doom in form of what used to be his dark princess. Dru arriving. With Angel 'No this day is just going to get better and better' innit' he sarcastically asked himself and groaned audibly making Buffy raise an eyebrow at him.
"You all right?" Buffy asked.
"Bloody fantastic, your friend, Red and Faith are scheming against me of some sorts and Dru's coming down," Spike replied grumpily.
"Cheer up, blondie bear" Buffy couldn't help but use the nickname one of the wanna be girlfriends, removing any lingering doubts he had about Faith sharing his more embarrassing moments. Buffy said the nickname- doing a perfect airhead imitation, a wide smile and an eyelash flutter. It horrified Spike that she actually almost perfectly imitated Harmony Kendall's whiny little voce.
Spike's eyes went wide. "Don't, Buffy. Promise me you'll never ever do that voice again," he pleaded before going over to Faith and latching on to her arm. "Faith. A word please? Outside. Now." His face was plastered with a faux smile.
"What are you gonna do Spikey? Spank me?" Faith teased.
"I said now!" Spike ground out dragging Faith after him, leaving Buffy and Willow smiling at their behavior. Buffy didn't get jealous because she could see that there wasn't that type of chemistry going on. More like a brother-sister quarrel. The two remaining girls separated to go groom some horses and Buffy went inside California Pride's stall to groom and cuddle. She had quickly learned that Pride had very different personalities when she rode him and when she just played with him. Inside his stall he was gentle as a lamb and leaned into her hands whenever she petted or scratched him.
He was particularly sensitive when she stroked him on his forehead. If she kept it on long enough he almost dozed off in pleasure. She was doing this right now and she saw that the gentle giant had much trouble keeping his eyes open when a throat clearing startled them both and Pride's head rose so quickly Buffy had to step back before the horse knocked her over.
Buffy turned around and looked straight into a male chest clad in a black silk shirt. A very firm and well-shaped chest she noted before letting her gaze travel upwards to meet a pair of chocolate brown eyes with a hint of sadness and lips forming a strained smile.
"H-hi!" Buffy squeaked in a tiny surprised voice.
"Hello," the man said his closed mouth smile growing a tiny bit wider, obviously amused by Buffy's nervousness. He stepped around her and approached California Pride who had calmed. "Such a magnificent animal don't you think?" the dark haired man asked while eyeing Pride like he was a piece of fine art and let his big hand trail down Pride's neck.
Buffy swallowed getting over the initial shock of being so close to a man that she had been only seconds before. "U-huh," she finally managed to breathe out as an answer. This man was doing something to her. She wasn't sure exactly what. He was of course, extremely attractive, but she didn't get the excited burning feelings she got just thinking about Spike. No, the man in front of her somehow made her nervous and he had this sadness reverberating off of him in waves making Buffy want to comfort him in some way. Handsome and broody were words that adequately described the man admiring California Pride.
"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself did I?" the man retracted his exploring hand from Pride, turned around and stretched it out to greet Buffy. "I'm Angel, Angel O'Toole. California Pride's owner. And you must be Buffy?" Angel asked as Buffy accepted his hand.
Realization hit Buffy and she gave the man a wide smile. "Yes, Yes I am. I'm Buffy Summers. Very nice to meet you."
"Likewise," he told her with a smile that still held that glimmer of melancholy to it.
"Angel." A tense and low voice came from behind Buffy. She turned her head to see Spike standing in the doorway with his fist curled up the knuckles turning white. Buffy saw his jaw twitch before turning back to Angel.
"William. How you've been?" Angel's eyes filled with an even greater gloom than before and he guiltily looked away from Spike's accusing glare. Buffy felt the air thicken for every second from the anger seeping from Spike in waves.
" Oh , same ol', same ol'. You? Dru… keeping you happy?" Spike gritted out.
"William I'm sorry, but she said-"
"Save it for someone who'd actually want to listen to the contrite crap that escapes your gob" Spike interrupted before storming off where he ran straight into someone.
Buffy moved to follow him, as she came out of the stall she saw Spike facing a tall beauty with raven hair. She couldn't see his face, but he could tell by his back as it slumped that this run in was affecting him in a completely different manner than his encounter with Angel. As for Angel the key emotion had been anger or even rage, but with this woman it was complete and utter desolation.
"Dru," Spike croaked out. All the preparing in the world wasn't enough when he came face to face with her. Emotions that had been buried for two years came welling to the surface with the speed and power of the raging surf in the hours preceding the landfall of a hurricane, tossing all his defenses aside like a child's paper boat- absently left behind in a tide pool.
"Spike, dearie. How are you?" Drusilla practically purred, while flashing him a wide smile. The smile made Buffy shudder seeing as it reached Drusilla's eyes with a wicked tint. This woman was enjoying Spike's misery far too much.
Spike shook his head and stalked past Dru. "What's the matter, Spikey. Don't I even get a kiss hello?" Drusilla called after him laughing. Buffy started walking after Spike to check on him when Drusilla stopped her with a hand clutching at Buffy's arm. Buffy roughly shook out of the woman's grip.
"Tsk, tsk. What have we here? And off in such a hurry too. Didn't your mummy teach you any manners?" Drusilla asked.
" My mom taught me to treat people who deserve it with respect and people who take joy in others misery don't deserve my respect, now move! I need to check on Spike." Buffy explained.
"Such pretty hair too." Drusilla grabbed a strand of Buffy's hair. " It's a pity that my Spike likes his woman dark. Like me." Drusilla paused staring at Buffy trying to measure the emotion in Buffy's eyes.
'Weird much?' Buffy thought and bit back the urge to tell the woman to go to hell. Instead she opted for a saccharine smile. "What's a pity is that Spike used to have such a poor taste in women. I'm Buffy and you must be Drusilla. I've heard a lot of interesting things about you from Mr. Rayne, Parker and the other guys that have stuck around since your days here of playing around." Buffy lied. All she knew, she had been told by Faith but the suggestion in Buffy's voice did not go unnoticed by Drusilla and she narrowed her eyes and was just about to bite something back when Angel interrupted her with his throat clearing again.
' Does the guy have a patent for that throat clearing thing' Buffy thought amused.
"Angel darling, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you" Drusilla called while gracefully making her way over to her husband. Buffy took advantage of the moment to start walking after Spike again. When she reached the doorway she looked back to the couple and noticed that where Angel's face had been sad before, it seemed hard and almost emotionless now, talking to his wife.
Buffy wondered for a few seconds what the relationship between the pair really was, before shrugging and stepping out of the barn in search of Spike.
Buffy didn't have to look too far. Turning around the corner of the barn she saw him. Spike sat perched on the gate of one of the paddocks, gray smoke swirling around his head as he flicked the ash off of his cigarette. Buffy's heart almost broke for him at how sad he seemed She slowly made her way over to him.
"You okay?" Buffy asked softly. Spike jumped down from his perch and leaned against the railing, before tossing away the butt of his cigarette.
"C'mere" he reached for her and she came willingly into his arms that wrapped her in a tight grip. Spike took a deep calming breath inhaling her sweet smell as he nuzzled in the crook of her neck. "I am now," he whispered. He felt comfort holding her. She was the rock that held him back from wanting to smash something in. Spike thought it was almost funny how this tiny girl could be his rock.
Buffy pulled back and looked into his eyes. He smiled and the smile reached his cerulean eyes letting Buffy know that he was okay. Buffy smiled too as she remembered the girl talk from last night and all the ways the three girls had come up with for her to seduce Spike. All that seemed sort of wrong now that he had been so torn up by meeting Drusilla and Angel. Still. Buffy wanted to somehow feel closer to Spike and if possible give him comfort or even more than that. She let her gaze fall from his eyes and to his soft lips and back to his blue eyes again. She leaned in closer still locking her eyes with him to evaluate whether or not it was all right with him. With his eyes he gave her permission.
Their lips fused tenderly together. Mirroring their emotions, soft and comforting at first. But both of them craved more and Spike moaned into her mouth as her lips parted and her tongue traced his bottom lip. His left hand left her waist and climbed up to her neck pulling her closer while the other slid down to cup her bottom for the same purpose. Their eyes closed as they gave in to the rapidly intensifying kiss. Their tongues battled with the fervor of all the tension that had been pent up making it passionate and all consuming.
Buffy felt a slow burn beginning inside of her, begging to be let out, begging for attention. She had never felt this aroused by a kiss. She let out a moan when Spike left her mouth and trailed kisses down her throat. The little sound made Spike, if possible, even more aroused and he gripped her bottom grinding her against his rock hard erection. Proving to her just how she was affecting him.
As his length rubbed against her sex, Buffy moaned even louder and arched her back all the while Spike doing the most incredible things to her neck. She let her hand travel down his back to the hem of his tee shirt enjoying the feel of the rippling muscles underneath she wanted to feel them without the fabric getting in the way. She slid her fingers underneath the fabric and trailed her nails up his bare back again. He hissed in return, making a pleasant shiver run through Buffy as his breath tickled her neck.
His lips once again found Buffy's and he never ceased to be amazed by the sweet taste of her and the heat. Their tongues danced together, struggling for dominance. And Spike's left hand slid from her neck to cup her breast letting his thumb flick against a nipple. Spike wanted nothing more than to lie for hours finding out ways to make her do more of those hisses, gasps, moans and tiny mewls. They were the most beautiful sounds he'd ever heard. Their kiss continued for what seemed like an eternity while their hands explored each other, clearly agitated by the clothing that was in the way.
"Buffy!" they withdrew form each other panting as they heard Willow calling Buffy's name.
"Y-yeah!" Buffy called back a bit out of breath. "Hold on. I'll be with you in a sec!" She locked her eyes with Spike's again and swallowed as she noticed that the once clear blue eyes were darkened in pure unadulterated lust. "That was… intense," she whispered. Finding the good word for all the emotions their kiss left was hard.
"Yeah," he rasped out. Spike was also at a complete loss of words. He could see in her eyes that she didn't regret it. She had wanted it as much as he did and he wanted more. It wasn't that long ago that she had seemed reluctant to admit to herself that there even was an attraction between them. He idly wondered what had changed. He leaned in closer to kiss her again. "I want this. I want you," he whispered huskily against her lips.
Buffy shivered as his breath tickled her sensitive and kiss swollen bottom lip. She leaned her forehead against his closing her eyes regretting having to say what she was about to say. She too wanted nothing more than to stay like this forever, but…
"Me too. I want this too, but Willow's expecting me," she said finishing by letting out a long breath. Spike wanted nothing of Red interrupting this wonderful moment and sought out her lips again taking her bottom lip and gently sucking on it.
"Buffy! Giles is leaving and he wants you to help Mrs. O'Toole with Pride!" Willow called out again. She had the decency to not walk around the corner knowing Buffy wasn't alone. But patience wasn't one of her greatest virtues- especially when she knew the others would be looking for Buffy soon as well.
Both Buffy and Spike groaned at the thought of Drusilla waiting to try out California Pride.
"I better go. Don't want to keep her waiting" Buffy muttered, referring to Drusilla with a slightly disgusted tone. Spike chuckled at Buffy's obvious disdain of his ex.
"Don't let her get to you, pet. Dru can be.. she has a bit of a bite to her. Especially when it comes to women. Just don't let her get to you," Spike said and Buffy thought it almost sounded like a warning.
"Don't worry, I won't. See to it that she doesn't get to you," she mumbled quietly before placing a peck on his lips. Spike took hold of her slender neck deepening the kiss, not willing to let her go just yet. A small part of him worried that if she left, she would have time to think about what had happened and regret it.
"I'm coming with you, " he stated.
"You sure? What I mean is, you, Drusilla and Angel, together… Not really contributing to make a happy Spike," Buffy clarified the apparent.
"I'll survive. 'Sides I have you there and you have me," he smiled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Nodding and smiling back to him she reluctantly pulled out of his arms and turned to head back to the stables.
Coming in to step beside her, she took a hold of his hand giving it a light squeeze. He didn't want to ever let go of her, now that she had willingly come to him.
*****
Half an hour later California Pride had been saddled along with a horse named Life's A Show that Buffy was going to ride as a lead for Drusilla and Pride. Buffy gave Drusilla a leg up and Drusilla didn't as much as nod a thank you- instead she stuck her nose in the air and demanded that Buffy hurried.
"Wills, you mind holding Pride while I go get Life's A Show?" Buffy asked.
"Listen, little girl. I can take care of myself. You just hurry out with that horse so we can get down to the track," Drusilla snapped, stopping any movement the redhead had made to help.
"Fine, suit yourself," Buffy said throwing her hands up in surrender as she went back into the barn mumbling under her breath about skanky stuck up bitches.
As soon as she emerged with horse in tow- she could barely hide her smirk while restraining her herself from a snarky 'told you so' upon finding Drusilla had been tossed off Pride and was now getting help from Willow to remount the horse. Looking at Spike she saw that he too was smirking at the horse's antics.
Drusilla and Buffy warmed up their horses in a trot in the usual warm-up circle at the center of the track. Spike, Willow and Angel stood leaning against the rail to watch as the two riders brought their horses out on the dirt track. Worry marred both of the men's features. Angel because he was worried what could happen to Dru, Spike because he was worried what Dru could do to Buffy.
"What possessed you to let Dru ride Pride? I mean she hasn't ridden a bloody racehorse for 2 years! Don't you know what a menace that can be? She could get hurt or worse she could get Buffy hurt," Spike bit out at Angel.
"And here I thought you'd be the first to remember how hard it is to refuse Dru, when she has set her mind to something," Angel replied calmly. He knew it was a terrible call of him to let Drusilla ride, but he felt that of all people, Spike would understand.
Spike snorted in response and muttered "stupid ponce" under his breath. Angel had little, but some pride left and being called names wasn't one thing he took lightly. He turned to glare at Spike making Willow who was standing between them throw up her hands.
"Hey! Stop it! You two can resolve this later if you want to resort to fisticuffs. Now shush. I want to watch Buffy. If you really want to fight, do it somewhere not here," the redhead said determined and the three of them fell silent and watched as Buffy and Drusilla came out of the turn and to their side of the track.
"Shit," Spike exclaimed
*****
"Shit" Buffy hissed as she saw that Drusilla was loosing her control over Pride. Things had been going smoothly up until now and Buffy could see that Drusilla was getting tired of struggling with Pride. California Pride was rapidly increasing his pace and Buffy was worried that the horse could run himself to the ground.
"You all right?" Buffy yelled against the wind that was passing them in a furious tempo. Drusilla didn't reply making Buffy worry even more. For every second passing the distance between California Pride and Life's A Show increased. Buffy was at a loss on what to do. She could push her horse to try and catch up and maybe somehow stop Pride, but she knew she was riding a much frailer horse. By pushing it she just might hurt the horse, by straining its legs. However, if she didn't try to catch Pride and stop him she was worried that he would ruin his legs. There was nothing worse than getting sore shins at this point. It would completely ruin Pride's season and hold back the training to the Triple Crown for months. That and there was the fact that Drusilla could actually get killed, if she fell off from exhaustion at Pride's pace.
Coming to a decision that despite her detest for the human in question, human life had to be valued before the health of her own horse's legs, she pushed Life's A Show faster. Luck had it that the horse actually mustered up the speed to catch Pride. What happened after was a game of dodge as Buffy steered her horse to crowd Drusilla and Pride and Pride in his turn held up his pace only to run out on the other side of Life's A Show. Buffy was terrified as Pride pushed her within inches of the rail. Thinking fast she held onto her own reins with one hand as she grabbed the rein furthest away from her on Pride and started her struggle. California Pride's head bent away from her from the force and the pair gradually slowed the pace.
******
A shaky sigh of relief escaped the onlookers when they saw that Buffy had managed to take control of the situation. Spike's heart had been in his throat as he watched California Pride pushing Life's A Show up against a rail. One more inch and he dreaded what might have happened. The horse could have tangled himself up and Buffy would have taken a nasty fall. And that type of fall was known to take lives.
******
Buffy and Drusilla made the way back up to the stables with their horses and Buffy quickly dismounted to assess the damage to her horse. She felt the legs up and down and disappointedly noted that they were burning up and throbbing. To lessen the damage she went to the wash booth and let a spray of ice-cold water cool down the poor horse's limbs. That done, she rubbed some cooling liniment on. The next few hours would tell just how severe the damage was. One thing was sure, this horse would not be racing any time soon, she could only hope that tendons were only sprained and wouldn't tear. She could hear yells coming from California Pride's stall and ran to it arriving at the same time as Spike, Willow and Angel.
All four looked on with horror as Drusilla unmercifully whipped the terrified horse and screamed at it while it ran terrified around her in circles. Buffy quickly made her way inside and grabbed Drusilla's wrist before she could let the whip fall one more time.
"If you let that whip crack one more time, I swear I'll let you feel it yourself," Buffy threatened icily. Drusilla yanked her arm free much in the same manner Buffy had earlier and glared at her intruder with fury. Drusilla was about to let her whip crack once more against the frightened animal but suddenly the whip was out of her hand and a hard slap stinged her cheek. She turned to her attacker once more.
"Okay, so I didn't use the whip, but I think you get the message. DON'T EVER take my threats lightly," Buffy said her chin up in determination. Drusilla eyed her opponent while touching her sore and slowly swelling cheek. A wicked smirk spread across her lips before she launched herself at the petite blonde, ready to have herself a catfight. She was stopped by two strong arms. She snapped her head around only to see that it was her own husband holding her back. First, Drusilla had been humiliated by that animal and now her very own husband was degrading her by taking the other woman's side.
"Let me go, Angel!" the woman fumed.
"No," her husband replied sternly. "I want you to go outside and calm down while the rest of us repair the damage you've done to this animal. Then, you're going to come back in here and apologize to Miss Summers." He calmly explained to a seething Drusilla. The woman let out a small scream of fury before stalking off outside.
Suddenly reality came crashing down as Buffy realized what she had done. She had slapped Drusilla or more importantly she had slapped the big honcho who owned the better part of the stable's horses, wife. She swallowed. "Mr O'Toole, I'm so, so sorry. I don't know what came over me. Would it help if pleaded temporary insanity," Buffy begged Angel. She didn't felt it was proper to be on a first name basis with the man after going psycho on his wife.
"Don't worry about it and please call me Angel. Mr O'Toole was my father and he was buried two years ago. Dru was completely out of line. First, she jeopardized both your lives and the welfare of the horses out on the track and what she did to Pride was completely uncalled for. You stood up to her. I'm impressed," he said as the first true smile Buffy had seen on him graced his face.
Buffy's mouth formed a surprised "Oh", but the word didn't escape her throat.
"Pet?" Spike making his presence known. "You all right?" she nodded before turning her attention to a terrified horse that stood in the far corner of the booth wheezing. She tried to calm him with a crooning whistling noise, but the horse was to shaken up and bolted to the other corner as she approached him. "Rain drops keep falling on my head," Buffy sang softly to the horse who flicked his ears back and forth, not really sure whether she was to be trusted or not.
Soothed by her calm humming the horse finally gave in and let her approach. California Pride's weren't as bad as Life's A Show's but he needed some cooling liniment on his legs too.
"Spike? Could you get the liniment for me? It's outside Life's A Show's box," Buffy asked her...' Boyfriend? Is that what he is now?' Buffy asked herself. Spike brought her the liniment and soon California Pride had been tended to properly too. Now Buffy only dreaded what would happen once Giles found out what she had done to Drusilla. She let out a shaky breath before locking the door to Pride's stall
'Well it looks like I'm about to find out,' she thought as Giles came walking down the isle towards her with a man in tow.