***********************************TRApPeD**********************************
Eleven: Small Grains of Truth
By Annie
2003-03-29
**************************************************************************** ****
Day Five.
3.18 a.m.
She rolled off of him with a huff. Placing herself at his side and closing her eyes. He turned his head to her with a small smile on his lips, taking her in. Her body was glistening with perspiration, her perky breasts exposed and rising and sinking with her deep breathing, her left hand was placed on her stomach while her right rested above her head - playing gingerly with one of her blonde strands. Her mouth was temptingly outlined by the blue rays of moonlight tentatively gracing her and he moved to lie on his side, prompting his head up in the palm of his left hand as he eyed her intently.
"What?" she murmured, not opening her eyes, and his smile widened slightly as he reached out his right hand and let his fingertips dip into the small cavity between her collarbones before he ran them gently down between her breasts and further to her bellybutton - circling it. "Stop it," she muttered, slapping his hand away before rolling over with her back to him, "I don't like you... touching me," she added and he smirked.
His fingertips then slid down the place of her spine, sending wicked little shivers to scurry through her and she opened her eyes. His hand stopped at the small of her back and he splayed his fingers over the spot before letting them travel further down to cup one of her cheeks and she twirled around with an irritated snarl.
"I said: cut it the hell out!" she clarified before sitting up and he tilted his head to one side with a naughty gleam in his azure orbs.
"Then tell me what you DO like," he mumbled, sitting up as well and letting his lips gently touch her shoulder.
She closed her eyes again, wanting so badly to be able to push him away, but knowing that she wasn't. She had tried. For six hours had she struggled to get the need to be anywhere but where he was to uproot the devouring daze of being with him, having him be within her...
"I'll... accommodate," he now whispered and she shook her head a little at him before she moved it to meet his mouth with her own.
He kissed her and she wanted to slip under his skin; he filled her and she thought she was about to die; he touched her and she was bursting into flames; he looked at her and all she wanted was to show him more. It scared her out of her wits.
"I'm thirsty," she said, taking her mouth from his and getting to her feet.
He watched her, then did the same.
"And I'm hungry," he stated, walking with her up to the refrigerator box and he opened it as she proceeded into the closet space to get one of her previously precious - now that they had the steady trickle of the Daughter Flood from the pipe as a resource - bottles of water.
He ripped open the bag of blood he had retrieved for himself and emptied it easily.
"You know," he said. "I've been thinking."
"Ah," her voice was heard, "first mistake right there," she finished and he glared at the doorway, though she didn't discourage him and he continued:
"Why the hell would not-cursed vampires keep BAGS of blood in a fridge? They hunt! They live..."
He shook his head, turning it to her as she re-entered the room, wiping her mouth clean from liquid and holding a half emptied bottle in one hand. She was frowning slightly.
"That's a pretty good point, actually," she admitted and he cocked an eyebrow.
"'Actually'?" he mimicked and she smiled sweetly, taking another sip of the water.
"Maybe it's for emergencies?" she suggested and he threw the emptied bag into the box before closing the lid once more.
"Yeah, what emergency? One of 'em accidentally getting trapped in this stupid spell?" he asked, his eyes suddenly lightening up as though something just hit him and Buffy nodded slowly.
"Maybe that's it!" she said and he smirked.
"If this spell is a time-loop of some sort," he began.
"Then maybe time stands still for the one caught in it," she continued.
"While to the outside world," he said and she nodded as he trailed off.
"While to the outside world a month in HERE, to them, might be an hour... or ten minutes even," she murmured. "And if the vamps have a leader who controls his pack by having the words that lifts the spell... Or maybe they store the blood in here in case a stranger vamp should wander down here while the pack is out and it gets stuck. It'll survive long enough for them to come back and either handle the problem or ask the vamp to join. Same thing with...humans, keeping them alive long enough for the prey to be fresh," she concluded, her eyes growing. "They actually ARE clever sons-of- bitches aren't they?" she then grumbled.
"Okay, wait," Spike now said, holding up one hand slightly. "This theory would explain why the Happy Crew hasn't stormed the place yet. But if we're right, if the spell has to do with some sorta buggering time-twister, then who's to say how long we actually WILL be stuck down here? If you're right, then an hour out there just might be a bloody MONTH in here and how long does it usually take your pally-pals to get worried about you? One night, at least? I bet they're all in their beddy-bys right now! Bloody hell!"
She raised her eyebrows, watching his little outburst calmly before she shrugged.
"We don't know anything yet," she merely replied. "All we can do now is wait."
"Well, I will applaud thee for this sodding amazing conclusion!" he exclaimed and she stared at him.
"What are you so upset about all of a sudden?" she inquired and he glared at her.
"I don't know!" he then replied and she bit back the smile at his frustration. "Why aren't YOU upset?" he retorted and she looked at him for a moment before she lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
"We've been down here for four days now," she answered him, turning and walking up to the mattresses to have a seat, reaching out a hand and pulling one of the blankets lying at the foot of them to her before wrapping it around herself. "I figure we have no use for panic. Can't eat it. Can't drink it. Can't do anything but let it take over. And I'm not gonna. Let it, I mean."
He suddenly smiled, approaching her before stopping to stand right before her and she tilted her head back to look up at him.
"This the Slayer in you talking?" he asked and she smirked.
"It's the resolve-girl in me," she then replied. "Willowism," she added and he furrowed his brow to which she shook her head dismissively.
He sunk down beside her with a sigh.
"We just shagged for six hours straight," he then stated and she giggled, the sound close to unfamiliar in the stillness of the room, before she nodded. "I have to say, I'm bloody impressed."
She turned her head to meet his gaze and he thought he could see a small hint of flattery in her eyes before she smiled, then shrugged.
"You got the job done yourself," she replied and he smirked. "But let's not get too friendly," she added, squaring her shoulders and he looked away from her, shaking his head.
"No, I wasn't," he then assured. "I just...you know...In light of the facts of where we are and all that... I..."
"Wanted to butter me up so I'd simply cave in again," she filled in and he raised his eyebrows high with one of those ill-fitting innocent expressions on.
She got to her feet and he muttered something incoherent as she headed for the door of the closet.
"Good night," he called after her and she stopped in the doorway, turning partially to him before she gave a small nod.
"Good MORNING," she then corrected and he rolled his eyes at her before watching her disappear from view, having the door glide shut behind her.
***
Day Five.
6.37 a.m.
"Spike," she grumbled as she felt his hand turn her over.
Then his mouth closed over her own and muffled the small protest as his tongue danced with hers. Her hands moved into the short-cut locks of bleached curls on his head as she began to return the kiss, growing more awake by the second.
"Tell me you want me," he whispered, pulling his mouth from hers in favor for letting it plant kisses along the side of her throat. "Say it."
"No," she moaned, catching his lips with hers again and he slid his body to fit it into hers on top of her blankets, her legs parting and her thighs tight on his hips through the rough fabric.
"Tell me you want me..." he demanded once more and she opened her eyes to look up at him.
The sunlight gently seeping into the other room was making the gloom in the one they were in less dark and she could make out his face as it hovered above hers.
"More than I wanted Angel?" she then asked and his eyes grew slightly with surprise and rising aggravation. "Isn't that what you wanna hear?" she wondered, the bareness of those questions making him shake from irritation with her.
Moving out of her grip he got to his feet and walked into the basement. He had his pants on again, she noticed, and wanted to hit herself for practically pouting over it. Clearing her throat she rose as well, wrapping one of the blankets around her still naked form before she followed him.
"What is this thing between you and him anyways?" she asked and he twirled around where he had stopped, below The Window, which was positioned slightly to her left.
"Nothing," he then replied. "Just good, old-fashioned competitiveness."
She frowned.
"He sired Dru, who sired you. That's about all the info I have so how 'bout a low down?" she inquired and he huffed.
"Do you think I can just link together a hundred-and-twenty years for you with a sodding snap of my fingers?" he asked and she could tell he wasn't in a very good mood at the moment. "Perhaps it's easy for you, you've been the Slayer for what? Three-four years? I bet you could tell me all your most exciting moments in about two bloody minutes. But to describe decades of time... my existence..." he trailed off at the indignant expression on her face.
"How long I've been the Slayer doesn't matter, Spike," she now stated, pronouncing his name in a hard fashion, which rather made him reminisce the way his trademark tool used to make the skull bone of chosen victims sound as it penetrated it. For some reason he didn't like it. "I've died, I've lost loved ones, I've even killed loved ones. But most importantly: I've battled and I have come out standing in fights with your great-great- grandsire, with your great-grandsire, with your grandsire, with your sire and with YOU. I've defeated your whole bloodline so it's no surprise that I so easily got rid of you, now is it?"
He blinked as he realized that what she had just stated was nothing but the very raw, exceedingly powerful and much too sexy truth. She had taken down the Master, Darla, Angelus, Drusilla and himself in one great big sweep with her tiny right hand and they had barely been able to scratch her.
"But we scarred you," he then mumbled and her eyes grew.
"What?" she asked and he tilted his head a little to one side.
"The Master killed you... Made you realize it actually could happen to you, didn't he? Made you understand that no matter how good you are, you can always get better... Dru murdered - what's her face? That other Slayer girl."
Buffy clenched her jaws together.
"Kendra," she then enlightened and Spike nodded with a small wave of one hand.
"Right, that one. And Dru also had Angelus wrapped around her red nail- polish painted pinky. Which brings us onto Angelus. He hated you where Angel loved you and, yeah," he paused, observing the growing tension on her, "that must've been the hardest fact to face of all of it. That no matter what, your love could never transform that monster residing in the back of his soul into something that could actually feel for you... And me...? Well, you tell me, Slayer. Exactly how," he now added, slowly moving up to her and her eyes were cold as she looked up at him when he stopped before her, "did I scar you?"
She grabbed the hand he was raising to place on her cheek and then pushed it back down with a rough movement before she turned and took a few steps away from him.
"You're good," she finally said, turning back to face him. "You had me distracted. You managed to get me to completely forget about my own question. But I was serious, and I still wanna know, WHAT is this obsession you have with Angel? Is it 'cause of Dru? I don't think you're telling all the sides to the story when you say Dru was the only one having someone wrapped around their pinky, though, are you? 'Cause as I recall it - and please, correct me if I'm WAY off here - but I have this lingering memory of YOU actually helping me take down Angelus in order to get your little girlfriend out of his clutches. I mean, that would point to Angelus having the little skank wrapped around...well, HIM," she finished and had a smile grace her lips at the cloud of fury billowing in those blue eyes of his.
"How did you feel when you saw Angelus with Dru?" he asked and she looked rather surprised by the counter question, then she broke eye contact and he could see she remembered the pain, that sense of betrayal. "You loved Angel," he now said. "I loved Dru. She broke my heart, the bitch, but I still loved her. The way I bet you still love the sodding poof."
She gritted her teeth.
"That doesn't work on me, the whole analogy bit," she replied, looking back up and into his eyes. "I don't believe soulless creatures can love."
He raised his eyebrows in undisguised bafflement at that. And then he furrowed his brow instead, watching her as she turned and walked up to the mattresses to sit down.
"I think THAT'S the sodding saddest thing I'VE ever heard," he then stated, coming up to her and squatting before her.
"I don't give a damn what you think," she replied and he could almost smell the growing pain on her.
What he had just said seemed to have cut her deeper than he had even intended.
"Why did he leave?" he couldn't help but ask and she swallowed hard, shaking her head and refusing to look at him.
"Because of me," she finally got out, battling back her tears. "Because whatever he had to offer he decided wasn't good enough," she added, quickly getting to her feet as she swiped at her eyes with annoyed motions of her right hand. "And I can't believe I just told you that," she mumbled, pulling the blanket tighter around her.
Spike didn't move, he merely observed her back in silence until she slowly turned back to him. For someone whom he had faced a thousand times with her shiny armor on, her face decisive, her eyes relentless, her fists made of steel - in that moment she was frail as an autumn leaf to the wind and he found himself wanting to hold her tight, fight the tears with her and make her feel...
He blinked.
She noticed the stiffness on him and mused over what could have brought it on before she shook herself out of the thoughts and concentrated on thinking about something that wasn't him. Only everything popping up in her head, of course simply because of her efforts, in some way or other was linked to him and she began to get irritated with herself.
The touch of his index finger below her chin, as well as the sudden closeness of him, caught her off guard as he made her look up at him. Her eyes grew slightly wide as she stared into his and then he bent down and gently kissed her.
"Wanna forget about them?" he asked and she nodded slowly, stepping into him as their lips once more touched and then locked together, the kiss deepening and two pairs of arms wrapping around two bodies.
***
1.40 p.m.
"What time do you think it is?" she asked, sitting up from where she had been lying beside him on the mattresses and running her hands through her hair before looking at him over her shoulder.
"Between twelve and...six?" he tried and she blessed him with a small smile before she grew serious again.
"We need some sorta...plan," she mumbled and he sat up as well.
"What sorta plan? There's nothing we can really do to improve the situation, is there?" he wondered and she gave a small shrug to which he grabbed her and tilted her back again, moving himself to lie on top of her.
She giggled, shaking her head as she looked up at him and then the smile once more died before she broke eye contact.
"Spike," she muttered, attempting to push him to make him roll off her, but his hands slid into hers and he held her down before leaning his head forward and kissing her neck.
"I mean it," he then murmured. "I can't see any sodding way we could POSSIBLY improve the situation," he added and the smile was reborn as she closed her eyes at the intoxicating feel of his mouth against her skin.
"Spike," she tried again. "Maybe we could try to...signal the...outside," she mumbled, his tongue dragging itself up her throat before he kissed her jaw line.
"We can't even get the sodding boards off the windows," he reminded and she sighed, moving her head to meet his kiss.
Pulling her head back slightly again she rested her eyes in his and he could see the flicker of an idea-bulb having been lit deep within those two shiny scraps of emerald.
"Maybe we need to combine forces?" she suggested and he raised his eyebrows slightly; amused at the fact of how right his observation had been. "Like with the lock on the fridge," she added and he smirked.
"You don't bloody quit, do you?" he asked and she smiled back.
Then she cleared her throat, stripped the merriness and shoved him off of her as she sat up. Getting to her feet she grabbed one of the scattered out blankets and got it around her as she walked up to The Window.
"Buffy," he mumbled and she turned her head to him with a questioning gaze.
He patted softly on the empty spot by him and she shook her head.
"We need to find some way out of here right now," she stated and he rose as well, to approach her, keeping himself out of the small rays of sunlight before stopping by her.
"Why?" he asked and she raised her eyebrows.
"Why?" she asked back. "Doesn't it sound like a good idea to you? A few hours ago you were freaking out at the prospect of being locked in here for a month, and now...?"
He smiled meaningfully as he stepped closer and she put up one hand against his chest in objection. The feel of his cool skin beneath her fingers, as well as the sculpted muscles of his chest, made her take a step back - though her hand stubbornly stayed where it was.
He placed his left hand over it before gently taking a hold on it and bringing it to his lips. Kissing it softly he rested his eyes in hers and she felt how she was melting. He was like a lethal injection, spreading its poison through her and she knew she needed some sort of antidote to survive. She couldn't do this...!
And yet she found herself moving her hand to slide her thumb over his lower lip as she took the step dividing them, placing her hand on his cheek before taking a hold on his face and making him lean forward. Feeling his mouth against her own made her body slowly ache for his, for them to join. And she couldn't fight it, it was overwhelming.
Losing herself in him was the most terrifying sensation she had ever been under. It enslaved her, made her lose every last ounce of self-control, and it made her feel utterly alive.
The part in her awakened was joyous to be free of its shackles. And willingly it picked up new ones, binding it to him in the most destructive way.
He ruled her, he broke her down so easily. What had happened to her over the course of less than a week to make her so completely give into him? What if he was right? What if it actually had been there for a lot longer...?
No! It was the spell. And once it was lifted she would be able to...
The creak of a floorboard above their heads made the kiss calm down and they slowly pulled apart to look at each other, eyes growing wide. Then the sound was there again and the two pulled apart, tilting their heads back to look up.
"Someone's up there," Buffy whispered and Spike nodded.
"And I'm pretty sure we're just about to find out who," he replied as they could hear the door to the basement slide open.
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ******************
Oh, boy, was I evil now? Was that too evil of me? Muahahaha! Sorry. Okay, I can't thank you enough for wonderful feedback! It's just more than...thrilling! ;) I LOVE all the oh, so fun comments about you all hailing wet Spike! *grins extremely wide* Thanks a lot, you guys!
Special, steaming hot thanks to charisma1525, Spuffygirl, Johanna, wolf116, Captain, Falcon-Rider, Pine, Chasity, Heather, Renee', Haley, Lucy, shadowschild, Weeza, Alyssa, LizDarcy and Charlie.
All of you give such amazing praise and I just want to say an extra thanks for that! I can't tell you what it means to read that it's saved your day or that this is "why you wake up in the morning" ;) etc. Just thanks a lot. *huge hug* Sorry this chapter is a bit on the lateside, I'll try my very best to get the next one up faster!
I don't need to write it, I think and hope... but still - please, let me know what you think, k?
A.M.L, Annie.
Eleven: Small Grains of Truth
By Annie
2003-03-29
**************************************************************************** ****
Day Five.
3.18 a.m.
She rolled off of him with a huff. Placing herself at his side and closing her eyes. He turned his head to her with a small smile on his lips, taking her in. Her body was glistening with perspiration, her perky breasts exposed and rising and sinking with her deep breathing, her left hand was placed on her stomach while her right rested above her head - playing gingerly with one of her blonde strands. Her mouth was temptingly outlined by the blue rays of moonlight tentatively gracing her and he moved to lie on his side, prompting his head up in the palm of his left hand as he eyed her intently.
"What?" she murmured, not opening her eyes, and his smile widened slightly as he reached out his right hand and let his fingertips dip into the small cavity between her collarbones before he ran them gently down between her breasts and further to her bellybutton - circling it. "Stop it," she muttered, slapping his hand away before rolling over with her back to him, "I don't like you... touching me," she added and he smirked.
His fingertips then slid down the place of her spine, sending wicked little shivers to scurry through her and she opened her eyes. His hand stopped at the small of her back and he splayed his fingers over the spot before letting them travel further down to cup one of her cheeks and she twirled around with an irritated snarl.
"I said: cut it the hell out!" she clarified before sitting up and he tilted his head to one side with a naughty gleam in his azure orbs.
"Then tell me what you DO like," he mumbled, sitting up as well and letting his lips gently touch her shoulder.
She closed her eyes again, wanting so badly to be able to push him away, but knowing that she wasn't. She had tried. For six hours had she struggled to get the need to be anywhere but where he was to uproot the devouring daze of being with him, having him be within her...
"I'll... accommodate," he now whispered and she shook her head a little at him before she moved it to meet his mouth with her own.
He kissed her and she wanted to slip under his skin; he filled her and she thought she was about to die; he touched her and she was bursting into flames; he looked at her and all she wanted was to show him more. It scared her out of her wits.
"I'm thirsty," she said, taking her mouth from his and getting to her feet.
He watched her, then did the same.
"And I'm hungry," he stated, walking with her up to the refrigerator box and he opened it as she proceeded into the closet space to get one of her previously precious - now that they had the steady trickle of the Daughter Flood from the pipe as a resource - bottles of water.
He ripped open the bag of blood he had retrieved for himself and emptied it easily.
"You know," he said. "I've been thinking."
"Ah," her voice was heard, "first mistake right there," she finished and he glared at the doorway, though she didn't discourage him and he continued:
"Why the hell would not-cursed vampires keep BAGS of blood in a fridge? They hunt! They live..."
He shook his head, turning it to her as she re-entered the room, wiping her mouth clean from liquid and holding a half emptied bottle in one hand. She was frowning slightly.
"That's a pretty good point, actually," she admitted and he cocked an eyebrow.
"'Actually'?" he mimicked and she smiled sweetly, taking another sip of the water.
"Maybe it's for emergencies?" she suggested and he threw the emptied bag into the box before closing the lid once more.
"Yeah, what emergency? One of 'em accidentally getting trapped in this stupid spell?" he asked, his eyes suddenly lightening up as though something just hit him and Buffy nodded slowly.
"Maybe that's it!" she said and he smirked.
"If this spell is a time-loop of some sort," he began.
"Then maybe time stands still for the one caught in it," she continued.
"While to the outside world," he said and she nodded as he trailed off.
"While to the outside world a month in HERE, to them, might be an hour... or ten minutes even," she murmured. "And if the vamps have a leader who controls his pack by having the words that lifts the spell... Or maybe they store the blood in here in case a stranger vamp should wander down here while the pack is out and it gets stuck. It'll survive long enough for them to come back and either handle the problem or ask the vamp to join. Same thing with...humans, keeping them alive long enough for the prey to be fresh," she concluded, her eyes growing. "They actually ARE clever sons-of- bitches aren't they?" she then grumbled.
"Okay, wait," Spike now said, holding up one hand slightly. "This theory would explain why the Happy Crew hasn't stormed the place yet. But if we're right, if the spell has to do with some sorta buggering time-twister, then who's to say how long we actually WILL be stuck down here? If you're right, then an hour out there just might be a bloody MONTH in here and how long does it usually take your pally-pals to get worried about you? One night, at least? I bet they're all in their beddy-bys right now! Bloody hell!"
She raised her eyebrows, watching his little outburst calmly before she shrugged.
"We don't know anything yet," she merely replied. "All we can do now is wait."
"Well, I will applaud thee for this sodding amazing conclusion!" he exclaimed and she stared at him.
"What are you so upset about all of a sudden?" she inquired and he glared at her.
"I don't know!" he then replied and she bit back the smile at his frustration. "Why aren't YOU upset?" he retorted and she looked at him for a moment before she lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
"We've been down here for four days now," she answered him, turning and walking up to the mattresses to have a seat, reaching out a hand and pulling one of the blankets lying at the foot of them to her before wrapping it around herself. "I figure we have no use for panic. Can't eat it. Can't drink it. Can't do anything but let it take over. And I'm not gonna. Let it, I mean."
He suddenly smiled, approaching her before stopping to stand right before her and she tilted her head back to look up at him.
"This the Slayer in you talking?" he asked and she smirked.
"It's the resolve-girl in me," she then replied. "Willowism," she added and he furrowed his brow to which she shook her head dismissively.
He sunk down beside her with a sigh.
"We just shagged for six hours straight," he then stated and she giggled, the sound close to unfamiliar in the stillness of the room, before she nodded. "I have to say, I'm bloody impressed."
She turned her head to meet his gaze and he thought he could see a small hint of flattery in her eyes before she smiled, then shrugged.
"You got the job done yourself," she replied and he smirked. "But let's not get too friendly," she added, squaring her shoulders and he looked away from her, shaking his head.
"No, I wasn't," he then assured. "I just...you know...In light of the facts of where we are and all that... I..."
"Wanted to butter me up so I'd simply cave in again," she filled in and he raised his eyebrows high with one of those ill-fitting innocent expressions on.
She got to her feet and he muttered something incoherent as she headed for the door of the closet.
"Good night," he called after her and she stopped in the doorway, turning partially to him before she gave a small nod.
"Good MORNING," she then corrected and he rolled his eyes at her before watching her disappear from view, having the door glide shut behind her.
***
Day Five.
6.37 a.m.
"Spike," she grumbled as she felt his hand turn her over.
Then his mouth closed over her own and muffled the small protest as his tongue danced with hers. Her hands moved into the short-cut locks of bleached curls on his head as she began to return the kiss, growing more awake by the second.
"Tell me you want me," he whispered, pulling his mouth from hers in favor for letting it plant kisses along the side of her throat. "Say it."
"No," she moaned, catching his lips with hers again and he slid his body to fit it into hers on top of her blankets, her legs parting and her thighs tight on his hips through the rough fabric.
"Tell me you want me..." he demanded once more and she opened her eyes to look up at him.
The sunlight gently seeping into the other room was making the gloom in the one they were in less dark and she could make out his face as it hovered above hers.
"More than I wanted Angel?" she then asked and his eyes grew slightly with surprise and rising aggravation. "Isn't that what you wanna hear?" she wondered, the bareness of those questions making him shake from irritation with her.
Moving out of her grip he got to his feet and walked into the basement. He had his pants on again, she noticed, and wanted to hit herself for practically pouting over it. Clearing her throat she rose as well, wrapping one of the blankets around her still naked form before she followed him.
"What is this thing between you and him anyways?" she asked and he twirled around where he had stopped, below The Window, which was positioned slightly to her left.
"Nothing," he then replied. "Just good, old-fashioned competitiveness."
She frowned.
"He sired Dru, who sired you. That's about all the info I have so how 'bout a low down?" she inquired and he huffed.
"Do you think I can just link together a hundred-and-twenty years for you with a sodding snap of my fingers?" he asked and she could tell he wasn't in a very good mood at the moment. "Perhaps it's easy for you, you've been the Slayer for what? Three-four years? I bet you could tell me all your most exciting moments in about two bloody minutes. But to describe decades of time... my existence..." he trailed off at the indignant expression on her face.
"How long I've been the Slayer doesn't matter, Spike," she now stated, pronouncing his name in a hard fashion, which rather made him reminisce the way his trademark tool used to make the skull bone of chosen victims sound as it penetrated it. For some reason he didn't like it. "I've died, I've lost loved ones, I've even killed loved ones. But most importantly: I've battled and I have come out standing in fights with your great-great- grandsire, with your great-grandsire, with your grandsire, with your sire and with YOU. I've defeated your whole bloodline so it's no surprise that I so easily got rid of you, now is it?"
He blinked as he realized that what she had just stated was nothing but the very raw, exceedingly powerful and much too sexy truth. She had taken down the Master, Darla, Angelus, Drusilla and himself in one great big sweep with her tiny right hand and they had barely been able to scratch her.
"But we scarred you," he then mumbled and her eyes grew.
"What?" she asked and he tilted his head a little to one side.
"The Master killed you... Made you realize it actually could happen to you, didn't he? Made you understand that no matter how good you are, you can always get better... Dru murdered - what's her face? That other Slayer girl."
Buffy clenched her jaws together.
"Kendra," she then enlightened and Spike nodded with a small wave of one hand.
"Right, that one. And Dru also had Angelus wrapped around her red nail- polish painted pinky. Which brings us onto Angelus. He hated you where Angel loved you and, yeah," he paused, observing the growing tension on her, "that must've been the hardest fact to face of all of it. That no matter what, your love could never transform that monster residing in the back of his soul into something that could actually feel for you... And me...? Well, you tell me, Slayer. Exactly how," he now added, slowly moving up to her and her eyes were cold as she looked up at him when he stopped before her, "did I scar you?"
She grabbed the hand he was raising to place on her cheek and then pushed it back down with a rough movement before she turned and took a few steps away from him.
"You're good," she finally said, turning back to face him. "You had me distracted. You managed to get me to completely forget about my own question. But I was serious, and I still wanna know, WHAT is this obsession you have with Angel? Is it 'cause of Dru? I don't think you're telling all the sides to the story when you say Dru was the only one having someone wrapped around their pinky, though, are you? 'Cause as I recall it - and please, correct me if I'm WAY off here - but I have this lingering memory of YOU actually helping me take down Angelus in order to get your little girlfriend out of his clutches. I mean, that would point to Angelus having the little skank wrapped around...well, HIM," she finished and had a smile grace her lips at the cloud of fury billowing in those blue eyes of his.
"How did you feel when you saw Angelus with Dru?" he asked and she looked rather surprised by the counter question, then she broke eye contact and he could see she remembered the pain, that sense of betrayal. "You loved Angel," he now said. "I loved Dru. She broke my heart, the bitch, but I still loved her. The way I bet you still love the sodding poof."
She gritted her teeth.
"That doesn't work on me, the whole analogy bit," she replied, looking back up and into his eyes. "I don't believe soulless creatures can love."
He raised his eyebrows in undisguised bafflement at that. And then he furrowed his brow instead, watching her as she turned and walked up to the mattresses to sit down.
"I think THAT'S the sodding saddest thing I'VE ever heard," he then stated, coming up to her and squatting before her.
"I don't give a damn what you think," she replied and he could almost smell the growing pain on her.
What he had just said seemed to have cut her deeper than he had even intended.
"Why did he leave?" he couldn't help but ask and she swallowed hard, shaking her head and refusing to look at him.
"Because of me," she finally got out, battling back her tears. "Because whatever he had to offer he decided wasn't good enough," she added, quickly getting to her feet as she swiped at her eyes with annoyed motions of her right hand. "And I can't believe I just told you that," she mumbled, pulling the blanket tighter around her.
Spike didn't move, he merely observed her back in silence until she slowly turned back to him. For someone whom he had faced a thousand times with her shiny armor on, her face decisive, her eyes relentless, her fists made of steel - in that moment she was frail as an autumn leaf to the wind and he found himself wanting to hold her tight, fight the tears with her and make her feel...
He blinked.
She noticed the stiffness on him and mused over what could have brought it on before she shook herself out of the thoughts and concentrated on thinking about something that wasn't him. Only everything popping up in her head, of course simply because of her efforts, in some way or other was linked to him and she began to get irritated with herself.
The touch of his index finger below her chin, as well as the sudden closeness of him, caught her off guard as he made her look up at him. Her eyes grew slightly wide as she stared into his and then he bent down and gently kissed her.
"Wanna forget about them?" he asked and she nodded slowly, stepping into him as their lips once more touched and then locked together, the kiss deepening and two pairs of arms wrapping around two bodies.
***
1.40 p.m.
"What time do you think it is?" she asked, sitting up from where she had been lying beside him on the mattresses and running her hands through her hair before looking at him over her shoulder.
"Between twelve and...six?" he tried and she blessed him with a small smile before she grew serious again.
"We need some sorta...plan," she mumbled and he sat up as well.
"What sorta plan? There's nothing we can really do to improve the situation, is there?" he wondered and she gave a small shrug to which he grabbed her and tilted her back again, moving himself to lie on top of her.
She giggled, shaking her head as she looked up at him and then the smile once more died before she broke eye contact.
"Spike," she muttered, attempting to push him to make him roll off her, but his hands slid into hers and he held her down before leaning his head forward and kissing her neck.
"I mean it," he then murmured. "I can't see any sodding way we could POSSIBLY improve the situation," he added and the smile was reborn as she closed her eyes at the intoxicating feel of his mouth against her skin.
"Spike," she tried again. "Maybe we could try to...signal the...outside," she mumbled, his tongue dragging itself up her throat before he kissed her jaw line.
"We can't even get the sodding boards off the windows," he reminded and she sighed, moving her head to meet his kiss.
Pulling her head back slightly again she rested her eyes in his and he could see the flicker of an idea-bulb having been lit deep within those two shiny scraps of emerald.
"Maybe we need to combine forces?" she suggested and he raised his eyebrows slightly; amused at the fact of how right his observation had been. "Like with the lock on the fridge," she added and he smirked.
"You don't bloody quit, do you?" he asked and she smiled back.
Then she cleared her throat, stripped the merriness and shoved him off of her as she sat up. Getting to her feet she grabbed one of the scattered out blankets and got it around her as she walked up to The Window.
"Buffy," he mumbled and she turned her head to him with a questioning gaze.
He patted softly on the empty spot by him and she shook her head.
"We need to find some way out of here right now," she stated and he rose as well, to approach her, keeping himself out of the small rays of sunlight before stopping by her.
"Why?" he asked and she raised her eyebrows.
"Why?" she asked back. "Doesn't it sound like a good idea to you? A few hours ago you were freaking out at the prospect of being locked in here for a month, and now...?"
He smiled meaningfully as he stepped closer and she put up one hand against his chest in objection. The feel of his cool skin beneath her fingers, as well as the sculpted muscles of his chest, made her take a step back - though her hand stubbornly stayed where it was.
He placed his left hand over it before gently taking a hold on it and bringing it to his lips. Kissing it softly he rested his eyes in hers and she felt how she was melting. He was like a lethal injection, spreading its poison through her and she knew she needed some sort of antidote to survive. She couldn't do this...!
And yet she found herself moving her hand to slide her thumb over his lower lip as she took the step dividing them, placing her hand on his cheek before taking a hold on his face and making him lean forward. Feeling his mouth against her own made her body slowly ache for his, for them to join. And she couldn't fight it, it was overwhelming.
Losing herself in him was the most terrifying sensation she had ever been under. It enslaved her, made her lose every last ounce of self-control, and it made her feel utterly alive.
The part in her awakened was joyous to be free of its shackles. And willingly it picked up new ones, binding it to him in the most destructive way.
He ruled her, he broke her down so easily. What had happened to her over the course of less than a week to make her so completely give into him? What if he was right? What if it actually had been there for a lot longer...?
No! It was the spell. And once it was lifted she would be able to...
The creak of a floorboard above their heads made the kiss calm down and they slowly pulled apart to look at each other, eyes growing wide. Then the sound was there again and the two pulled apart, tilting their heads back to look up.
"Someone's up there," Buffy whispered and Spike nodded.
"And I'm pretty sure we're just about to find out who," he replied as they could hear the door to the basement slide open.
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Oh, boy, was I evil now? Was that too evil of me? Muahahaha! Sorry. Okay, I can't thank you enough for wonderful feedback! It's just more than...thrilling! ;) I LOVE all the oh, so fun comments about you all hailing wet Spike! *grins extremely wide* Thanks a lot, you guys!
Special, steaming hot thanks to charisma1525, Spuffygirl, Johanna, wolf116, Captain, Falcon-Rider, Pine, Chasity, Heather, Renee', Haley, Lucy, shadowschild, Weeza, Alyssa, LizDarcy and Charlie.
All of you give such amazing praise and I just want to say an extra thanks for that! I can't tell you what it means to read that it's saved your day or that this is "why you wake up in the morning" ;) etc. Just thanks a lot. *huge hug* Sorry this chapter is a bit on the lateside, I'll try my very best to get the next one up faster!
I don't need to write it, I think and hope... but still - please, let me know what you think, k?
A.M.L, Annie.