Title: Dance
With Me - Chapter 6 of Maybe When...
Author: Xionin
Rating: R
Pairing: Buffy/Spike.
Feedback: Pretty please?
Disclaimer: ME dropped the ball. I picked it up.
Summary: This a medium series based on Buffy's line to Spike from 'End
of Days'. She begins to say 'maybe when [this is all over,] but Spike interrupts
her. It's an AU approach to the series finale [because you know how much I loved
that] and then moves into the 'what ifs'.
And oh yeah, it's a total piece of fluff. Enjoy!
Dance With Me
"Well,"
Spike stepped out of the bathroom in his suite at the Sunnydale Astor
[did you really think he'd take a regular room? For free?] with an aire of bravado.
"How do I look?"
Dawn and Willow
gasped appropriately and lavished flattery on him as expected. They didn't have
to fake it, though.
The truth was he looked...well...fucking unbelievably, drop-dead, mouth-wateringly
gorgeous. Both girls suddenly hated Buffy.
Which is saying something in Willow's case, now isn't it?
"Wow...Spike, if you weren't, like, practically my big brother I'd say you were drool-worthy." Dawn smiled as she stood up from the pinstriped, executive sofa. She walked a slow circle around him, taking a longer moment in the back as her face went red, and folded her arms as she stood in front of him once more. "Not bad at all."
Spike smiled. "Thanks, Nib. Red?"
Willow just stared.
Had guys always looked this good? Couldn've.
She felt a familiar tingling in her lower abdomen and mentally slapped herself.
"Damn," she mumbled. Her face flushed and she jumped up, doing her best to look nonplussed. "You...l-look good, Spike. Good."
OK so she was gay, not blind, right?
"Why don't you look for yourself?" Dawn guided him over to the floor-length mirror. All day, when he was on his shopping spree with Willow and later Dawn, he kept forgetting that he could actually use mirrors now.
He moved in front of it, with his eyes closed, and braced himself for the horror that could result from having two birds pick your wardrobe and do your hair. When he opened his eyes, what he saw...amazed him.
He didn't look too bad.
In fact...
"Wow, I'd say you two ladies 'ave got yourselves a new career. This isn't half-bad." He smiled and looked up as his face reflected back at him.
Let's start with the shirt, shall we? It was blue. But not just any blue: Cornflower Blue. Like his eyes. It was a silk knit that clung to his body as if its very life depended upon it. The short sleeves ended right in the center of his biceps. Actually, the tee accentuated every ripple and curve of his toned physique. When he moved, the shirt moved like liquid; like a second skin. And if it looked good, it felt even better.
On his chest rested a silver Celtic cross that Willow had given him as a gift. She'd seen him eyeing it in one of the shops they went to, and she couldn't help but tear up a little at the look on his face when she'd handed it to him later on.
Moving down, he wore black pants. Not jeans, for once, but pants. A pair of black dress Chinos they'd picked up from Banana Republic or some such store. They were crisp, clean and fit him, well, rather nicely.
Let's just leave it at that...for now.
At Dawn's insistence,
he abandoned his beloved black Docs for a shiny new pair of three-eye Oxfords.
Black, of course. Still Doc Martens too.
Some things shouldn't be tampered with. His hair was not one of those things and had been the first thing his two young friends had concentrated on.
Rule #1 - No gel. He'd gone down kicking and screaming on that one. But looking at the man in the mirror before him, he had to admit. It was...OK. Dawn had said that Buffy liked his hair a little curly. And it was only a little curly, not the 'fro that it was capable of being. A little curly was fine.
But who was he kidding? If Dawn had said that Buffy loved bald men, he would've taken to a razor straight away!
Rule #2 - No fussing with it. Leave it messy. That one would take some concentration, but he'd give it the ol' college try.
Spike turned this way and that in the mirror for what seemed like forever to his two helpers. After 10 minutes or so of coddling him and telling him that 'no, the blue doesn't make you look like a poofter' [whatever that is] and 'yes, Buffy will love it,' they'd grown bored and wanted to get out of there. They had a good excuse, actually. Buffy had called and said she needed help picking out something to wear.
Great. Only 4:30.
That gives them at least two hours of watch-Buffy-try-on-every-outfit-she-owns-and-hate-every-one-of-them
time.
Better get started, ladies.
"Well, Spikey, if you're all set..." Willow moved to pick up her bag.
"Yeah," Dawn moved with her. "We promised Buffy we'd help her get ready too." Spike spun around to meet them.
"You...uh...won't say anything to her...about today, will you?" He bit his lip nervously, but the girls smiled.
"No, Spike, we won't spill the beans." Willow patted him on the shoulder. Damn that shirt felt good! She moved her hand away and fanned herself, surreptitiously.
"I can't believe you did all of that in one morning, Spike. How did you find all of those things?" Dawn shook her head in amazement.
"I want this to be...perfect." He shrugged.
"I think it will be." Willow said softly. "C'mon Dawnie, let's go calm the nervous Slayer."
"She's nervous?" Spike wondered. Dawn rolled her eyes as she and Willow headed out the door.
"Geez, Spike. What do you think?" He could hear them laughing as the pair walked down the hall.
-------
"Why the hell am I nervous?"
"Because..." Dawn huffed as she twisted her sister's hair into a French braid. "Your dream date will be here in thirty minutes and you're no closer to being ready than you were an hour ago."
"He is not my dream date," Buffy muttered. Willow, who was standing in the closet looking for buried treasure that Buffy insisted was in there somewhere disguised as the 'perfect outfit', met Dawn's amused expression at the bit of nonsense that just came out of Buffy's mouth.
"Uh...right, Buff. Sure." Willow turned and pretended to search more, hiding her laughter in the hanging clothes.
"Ouch!" Buffy yanked herself away from Dawn's vice grip on her braid.
"Ooo, sorry!" Dawn grimaced. "You really expect us to believe that this isn't a big deal? You and Spike going out on a real date?"
Buffy smiled despite herself. "Well...yeah...I guess it is...but I don't want to put too much importance on it. I mean...it's just a date."
"Oh yeah," Willow's muffled voice sounded. "Uh huh, just like Spike's 'just a guy' and you're 'just a girl." She emerged from the rack with a red halter top and held it before the Summers sisters. Both of them scrunched up their noses. It got thrown into the 'Not' pile.
"OK, so we're not...normal...but I don't want to turn this - tonight - into anything more than it is. It's...just a date." Buffy voiced the argument very convincingly, but it wasn't working on her and it wasn't working on her audience. They all knew better.
"Alright, Buffy, live happily ever after in the land of Denial if you like, but we all know that when the doorbell rings in-" Dawn looked at the clock. "-twenty-three minutes, both of you will go all googly-eyed and nervous, biting your lips and stammering like little kids." Buffy reached back a lightly slapped Dawn on the arm, trying not to smile.
"C'mon, you know she's right." Willow said. "It's actually kinda sad-"
"Willow!" Buffy giggled.
"Well it is, the way you two are." She brought out a black sleeveless v-neck and held it up. Dawn's eyes went wide as she nodded vigorously.
"I think you should go for that one, Buff." The older sister didn't look convinced. Dawn finished the braid and put a clip on the end to hold it in. She then took the shirt from Willow and held it up to herself, admiring her reflection in the mirror. Plots of stealing...er...borrowing it were dancing through her head. "It's black. He likes you in black."
"He likes her in anything," Willow chimed in. Buffy gave her a mock-glare.
"True," Dawn continued. "Besides, it's low-cut enough to let him know you're interested, but not enough to look, you know, slutty." Buffy jumped out of the chair, spilling a rainbow of clothes to the floor.
"Alright, that's it. I'll wear the damn top if you two just stop it." She yanked the shirt from her sibling's hands and tossed it on the bed. Dawn and Willow laughed as Buffy ushered them both to the door and out into the hall. "Call me when he gets here." Willow nodded and went downstairs.
"Yes sir!" Buffy closed the door on Dawn's smirking mock-salute. She could hear her giggles move away as she took a deep breath and moved in front of the mirror.
"OK, Buffy Anne Summers," she breathed. "You can do this. You've done it before. Plenty o-of times. Yup. Plenty of dates." She twisted her head left and right, trying to decide 'yay' or 'nay' on the braid. "Nay."
She quickly removed the clip and shook out her hair. She smiled at the soft ripples that had formed from the short confinement.
"Hmmm...look at that." The skirt she pulled from the pile on the floor was new...ish. She'd had it a while, but the opportunity to wear it hadn't arisen until now.
It was Spanish-style...flamenco, if she remembered the clerk's words at the store. Black with three tiers of ruffles, it hugged her small curves at the top and flared out at the bottom giving her an exotic look. The off-side slit went pretty high and showed off a considerable amount of leg. She fastened the three buttons at the waist and smoothed the fabric over her abdomen. Slipping the v-neck over her head, she stood and admired her reflection.
Dawn had been right, actually, the top worked nicely. Buffy tried not to think about Dawn's dressing-for-dates techniques as she laced up the strappy black sandals. The peach of her nail polish on her fingers and toes glistened. She smiled thinking how only Spike would notice that it matched her lip gloss.
He was always so...observant.
A pair of fluid, gold earrings completed the ensemble, gracefully hanging just above her tanned shoulders. For a second, she wondered where she'd gotten a tan until she remember the massive amounts of sunlight in the cavern.
She had to close her eyes and sit on the edge of the bed. Taking a deep and cleansing breath, she looked directly across at the mirror. A golden-haired, green-eyed beauty stared back at her and she wondered where the girl had been hiding.
"Time to live again," she whispered to her reflection who smiled back.
---------
When the doorbell rang, Buffy went into panic mode.
"Oh. My. God. What am I wearing? I look like an L.A. hooker!"
"Geez, Buffy, calm the fuck down!" Willow steered her friend away from the closet. If Buffy went in there again, she was afraid the date would start twenty-four hours late. "You look gorgeous, Buffy. Stop it."
"Really? Okay...okay." She sat down on the bed.
"Wait three minutes, then come down." Willow patted her friend's leg and closed the door behind her. Left alone to her own devices, the Slayer couldn't leave well enough alone. She removed and re-applied her lip gloss three times before her three minutes were up. It started when she heard the low rumble of Spike's voice drift up the stairs.
"God, Buffy...you coward...breathe!" She ordered herself to calm down. "It's just a fucking date." She heard him laugh and her spine melted away. Just a date. Uh huh.
---------
"If it makes you feel any better," Dawn offered. "She's just as nervous as you are." She shook her head. "You guys ae just too funny."
"Glad we could amuse you, niblet." Willow made her way down the steps and smiled when she saw the huge bouquet of white and pink roses Spike was holding.
"Spike."
"Red." He winked at her.
"She'll be right down." She smiled mischievously, which made him quirk an eyebrow. He was about to ask her what she meant went his attention was drawn to the stairs.
Spike had never feinted before, but he was pretty sure he could pull it off right then and there. What he saw took his breath away.
Buffy descended slowly, gracefully actually, which was amazing since she'd lost all control over her lower body the second she'd seen him at the bottom.
He looked...
She looked...
"Amazing."
"Stunning."
They stood, face to face, with their mouths slightly open. Then they smiled, simultaneously. Dawn and Willow smiled too as they backed away from the pair. They didn't leave, they just...moved to a respectable distance. No way in hell were they gonna miss this.
"Buffy...you look...I...I don't have words, luv." Spike's eyes watered up as he gazed at the beautiful creature before him. She smiled so warmly that he giggled.
Yep. Giggled.
Of course he tried to cover by clearing his throat and it worked on Buffy, but not on the other two women. They stifled their laughter. It was just too cute, the sight of this former Master vampire giggling in front of the girl of his dreams. Really priceless.
For her part, Buffy fared much better. Smiling a lot meant she didn't actually have to say anything. See she'd lost all ability to form coherent thought as she stood in front of him.
His eyes roamed openly over her form, taking in every luscious curve, and she could see the desire rolling around inside of him. Her entire body blushed. She stepped back and turned around in a slow circle, gaining a little confidence after seeing his reaction to her.
Spike was holding his breath which would account for some, but not all, of the lightheadedness. She stopped when she faced him again and his lips parted to say something, but when she looked into his eyes, they clouded over with a veil of lust and utter adoration that she'd never seen before; not even from him.
It thrilled her to no end.
She felt the electricity travel from her womb to her nipples, hardening them under the thin silk of the top she wore. It echoed to her thighs as she felt a familiar wetness between them.
Already?
What a night it was going to be.
Spike, coming back to his senses, offered her the roses. She hadn't even noticed them, but she did notice the way his body moved beneath the shirt that clung to him and he handed them to her. She took the flowers and thanked him breathelessly. Breathing was an issue for both of them.
Willow arched her eyebrow. This was way too much sexual subtext for a seventeen year old.
"Let Dawn and I take those for you, Buffy." She took the roses from the blonde and handed them to Dawn, who glared with an 'I'm not ready to leave this scene yet' look on her face. Willow cocked her head which meant nothing less than 'oh yes you are, young lady.'
Dawn really hated Willow sometimes.
She fisted the flowers and stalked off to the kitchen. Willow turned back to the pair to wish them a good time, but she realized that they wouldn't have heard her, they were so lost in each other's eyes. Buffy's breathing was shallow, as was Spike's. Willow smiled to herself and slipped away.
"So..." Buffy licked her lips. Spike's eyes followed the movement of her little pink tongue and he had to swallow. Hard.
"So..."
"Where are...we going, tonight?" She looked up at him from under smoky lashes.
"Somewhere
where you can...dance with me." His voice had taken on that low timbre she
remembered from their time together.
This was the voice that sometimes moved her mountains and made her fortress crumble.
This was the voice, although she'd never told him as much, that was her undoing
time and time again. Against her will this voice had commanded her. Tamed her.
Owned her.
Maybe he was aware.
"I, uh, hope...I hope you like what I have planned."
Or maybe he wasn't.
"I'm sure it will be lovely."
Her eyes darted to his lips when she said the last word. Spike growled, which surprised him. He'd always thought it was the demon that did that. Maybe it was just the woman before him that brought it out.
He was warm, no, hot. She was doing things to this body, by just standing there, that he'd never experienced before. He reached up a hand and brushed a stray strand of hair off her shoulder. She instinctively stepped into him and his hand fell to her waist.
"Hello there," she whispered. He smiled that feral smile she doubted he even new he was capable of. So many facial expressions perfected without the aid of a mirror.
"Hello, kitten." His voice was a whisper as he lowered his head to hers. Their lips brushed, silk against silk, and she tilted her head. Their eyes were open, staring. Smiling. Spike brought his other hand up and through her hair, lifting it off her shoulder as he pulled back a bit.
"You are so delicious, baby." The deep baritone of his voice melted over her skin like warm caramel and she had to close her eyes. A shiver ran down her spine. This was so intense.
"Do you know what you do to me?" He breathed into her hair as he let it fall down her back. Nuzzling his face into her neck, he was exerting an enormous amount of control on his libido.
He wanted her. Then. There. It took everything within him not to pick her up and march up the stairs to her room. And she felt it. She knew it and it made her bold.
"Yes, I do." She smiled when he pulled back to meet her eyes. "But what I want to know is..." she slid her naked arms around his neck, the feel of his firm body beneath the silk of the shirt giving her goosebumps. "-what you're going to do...to me." She looked, unabashedly, into his eyes and laughed inwardly at his surprise. She had never been this bold before. But, then again, nothing had ever felt so...right. So natural.
He looked deep into the emerald sea of her eyes for one, long moment before her cupped the back of her head and brought his mouth to hers. Capturing his bottom lip...finally...Buffy ran her tongue lightly along it causing him to groan.
God, if the date started like this, he could die just thinking of how it was going to end and be a happy man.
He opened his mouth a little and caught her tongue with his own, circling it lightly. The kiss grew organically in its intensity, both of them floating on the passion that threatened to consume them. Buffy tightened her embrace on Spike as he brought his hands to her back, pressing her closer. He could feel her bare skin beneath the flimsy fabric of her shirt and it only exicted him more. He slid his palms slowly down the curve of her ass and pulled her even more into his body. She felt his growing arousal through the smooth fabric of his pants. It was...a hot spot, now.
Buffy moaned in his mouth and the kiss became more and more demanding. She fisted her fingers into his hair as they devoured one another. She was about ready to climb him like a tree when he brought one hand forward and brushed the side of her breast.
"Oh!" She broke away and they stared at each other breathing heavily, if at all.
Spike...adjusted...himself and ran a hand through his hair.
"Luv...we better be on our way or we'll never get there." He was blinking rapidly and a layer of perspiration formed on his forehead.
"Yes." She cleared her throat, straightening out her clothes. "Right...I'm ready."
Spike smirked at her which made her raise her eyebrows. She already knew what he was going to say.
"Oh, I know you are."
He slipped his hand into hers after he opened the door for her and they headed out into the evening.
TBC Chapter 7: Softer