A/N: Wow, you guys are the absolute best.  Thanks for all the reviews and support, I appreciate them more than you know.

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Chapter 38:  Even if it takes an Eternity 

Buffy's heart felt like it was going to explode.  One minute, she was lost in the forest, trying to find a way back to the House of Terror.  The next, she had stumbled back onto the road and almost been smacked by Spike's car.  She watched the car swerve and fishtail over the road.  When it finally came to a stop, Buffy ran toward it.  She couldn't see Spike inside the car or outside.  Buffy slowed down and picked up a small pebble. She threw it against the driver window, hoping Spike would step out of the car to investigate.  When he didn't, Buffy approached the car.  She head Spike scream and saw him practically fly across the seat.  It made Buffy laugh some, but also worried her.  Why was Spike screaming? 

Curious, Buffy walked around the back of the car and to the passenger's side.  Spike still didn't come out.  "This is getting slightly ridiculous," Buffy muttered. 

She circled the car again and saw Spike get out of the drivers side.  He was muttering under his breath, something about Jamie Lee Curtis.  Amused, Buffy watched him for a moment, and then ran at him full force.  She saw him turn and his eyes widen slightly.  Giving no thought to injury or repercussions, Buffy hurled herself at him, taking them both to the ground.  Spike landed on the bottom and Buffy clung to him like a crab clinging to seaweed.  Minutes passed before she head Spike speak. 

"Buffy?" he asked. 

Buffy didn't know whether to laugh, cry or both.  "Hiya Spike.  Damn I'm glad to see you," she chirped in a high-pitched voice.  Fear rocked through her and nipping closely on its heels was love.  Arousal slammed her and Buffy surrendered to the morass of sensations.  She crashed her lips down on Spike's. 

It was like coming home.  The scent, taste and texture that were uniquely Spike made Buffy release all her pent-up emotions from the past few days.  She kissed Spike feverishly and desperately, trying to devour and memorize him all at once.  Spike responded just as eagerly, his own body responding to hers like a wolf to its mate. 

Need hit Spike fast, hard and ferocious.  It clawed up from his groin and electrified his body.  All Spike wanted to do was lose himself in Buffy.  There in the forest, primal and primitive, animalistic and raw.  He deepened the kiss, nipping her lip and drawing her tongue into a duel.  She moaned and Spike's body responded painfully. 

Too much.  Too much.  Buffy's body screamed.  She was acutely aware of every inch of her skin.  From her lips and the brutal kiss she and Spike shared down to her arms, legs and toes where she was unconsciously moving, seeking friction as a release from the sweet torment Spike inflicted.  Buffy's body felt like one single nerve, scraped raw.  

Spike's lungs began to protest the lack of necessary oxygen.  He broke the kiss and they both drew in a deep lungful of air. Buffy sighed and rested her forehead against his.  Spike wrapped his arms around her and they were silent, savoring the feel of one another.  Buffy sighed again and brought her gaze up to meet Spike's.

"Hey there," she said softly. 

Spike raised a brow.  "Hi yourself."

Buffy smiled and pressed a soft kiss against his lips.  "I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again."

Spike rolled his eyes.  "Pet, you sure don't have a lot of confidence in me, do you?  I'll always find you."

"Always?" Buffy asked. 

Spike's blue eyes lightened to the shade of a summer sky.  "Even if it takes me an eternity."

Tears prickled the back of Buffy's eyes.  One escaped and slowly rolled down her cheek.  Spike raised his hand and caught it with a finger. 

"Hey now, what's this, ducks?" he asked. 

Buffy sniffed and fought back the tidal wave of emotion that was threatening to consume her.  "I promised myself that if I got out of the house safely, then I could breakdown and cry," she said in a quivering voice. 

Spike's grip on Buffy tightened and she watched in fascination as his eyes hardened into ice blue chips.  "Riley?"

It wasn't really a question.  Buffy nodded and Spike's jaw tightened and a muscle twitched. 

"I'll kill him," he said very matter-of-factly. 

Buffy shook her head vehemently.  "No you won't.  We are getting the hell out of here.  Tell the police and let them deal with the insane man."

Anger swam through Spike, a black, bubbling geyser.  The need to beat something raw with his bare hands was strong.  The need for it to be Riley was almost overpowering.  He wanted to see Riley's face the instant before he smashed it into oblivion, to see the recognition in his eyes.  He wanted Riley to experience the fear and the pain that he put Buffy through.  But with one look at Buffy, Spike pushed his feelings down.  Her face was streaked with dirt and tear tracks and her eyes were red.  There were leaves and sticks woven in her unruly mop of hair.  Her clothes were torn and her feet bleeding. 

She was absolutely breathtaking. 

Her eyes pleaded with him and Spike realized that she was exhausted, emotionally and physically.  No matter how great the urge to pound Riley into an unrecognizable smear was, it would have to wait.  Buffy came first. 

Slowly, Spike stood up.  He gently pulled Buffy to her feet and pulled her close to him.  Together, they walked to his car.  Spike led Buffy to the passenger side and opened the door.  She giggled and slipped inside.  Spike smiled at the sound and walked around the back of the car.  Then, he noticed his tires.

They had been slashed. 

"Fuck.  Shit.  SON OF A BITCH!" Spike yelled at the dark sky. 

Buffy vaulted out of the car and ran back to Spike.  "What's wrong?"

Spike pointed to the tires and Buffy's face went white.  "Riley," she whispered. 

Her knees felt weak and began to buckle.  It was like a scene out of a bad horror movie.  How much more perfect could it be?  They were stranded in the woods at night with a crazy man stalking them.  Jesus Christ, it's like Stephen King's wet dream.  Buffy shook her head at the thought and fought the bile that was rising in her stomach.  Calm.  We need to stay calm. 

"Cell phone!" she almost screamed. 

Spike was deeply involved in a rant that included the gross dismemberment of Riley arms and legs and the painful extraction of his testicles from his body.  He stopped in mid-rant and looked at Buffy.  "Huh?"

Buffy rolled her gritty eyes.  "Where is your cell phone?"

Spike had the insane urge to smack himself on the forehead.  "Shit.  It's in the bloody car."

Buffy smiled triumphantly and scrambled back into his car.  She dug around for a little bit then returned with the cell phone.  Sparing a quick grin at Spike, Buffy quickly dialed Willow's number.  She waited a minute, and then frowned.  The cell phone cheerfully beeped in her ear announcing the loss of service. 

"Well, there goes that great plan," she said dismally. 

"Hey, pet, none of that," Spike said.  He pulled her into his arms and tried to think of a plan.  They had the car still, and his keys, so heat was available.  It wouldn't be that big of a deal for them to just lock themselves in for the night and wait for the morning. All and all, that was probably the best course of action.  If not for Buffy's stomach and the noticeable rumbling it was doing.  She needed food, and she needed it now.  Spike didn't know how long it would take them to walk back to Sunnydale tomorrow, and he really didn't want her to go hungry tonight.  If she didn't find food and strength, she might not even be able to make the walk back into town, and Spike would face the fires of the dammed before he left her side again.  So, back to the present quandary; stay at the car or find the mansion?

Buffy answered the question for him.  "We need to find the house.  It's the only way we'll find a phone and food too." 

Her voice quivered slightly and Spike tightened his hold on her.  "It's okay, luv.  We're together now, two against one.  I sincerely hope we run into Riley."

He said it so quietly and with such deadly conviction, that Buffy shivered.  She looked up at him and felt a small chill snake through her.  Spike's eyes were as dark and the night sky and just as cold.  The moonlight streamed over him, giving him the look of a fallen angel seeking vengeance.  It was a romantic notion, but one Buffy couldn't dispel.  And, God help her, it was erotic as hell.  I've turned into such a gutter brain.  She gave herself a mental kick, but a small tremor of arousal shot through her anyway.

Thinking that she was cold, Spike shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around Buffy's shoulders.  She sighed and Spike looked at her questionably.  For the second time in as many hours, Buffy launched herself at Spike. 

It was the coat that did it.  A small thing, really, and Buffy knew that this was neither the appropriate time nor place for unplanned seduction, but her body had different plans altogether.  She wrapped her legs around his waist and hungrily attacked his mouth. 

The red edge of passion kindled then roared bright inside of Spike.  He didn't have the smallest inkling of what had possessed Buffy, but at this point, he really didn't care.  Her mouth was hot and demanding against his, her supple body was wrapped around him like a second skin and her hands were busily mapping the hard planes of his body.  Never one to deny the pleasure of a lady, Spike surrendered to Buffy's passionate onslaught. 

Spike offered and Buffy took.  Her lips and mouth demanded and devoured.  She tugged on his lip with her teeth, nipped at his neck and then soothed it with her tongue.  The hunger consumed her, drove her on and up, up so high.  It was like a fever burning though her body.  They toppled to the ground, Spike cushioning Buffy's body with his own.  Her hands went wild over his body.  She tugged on his shirt and yanked at his belt. 

Spike's breath was lost at first contact, now his brain felt like it was melting.  eHer hand sThe blood rushed happily from his head to his groin and he had great difficulty forming coherent thoughts.   His hands raced over her familiar curves, and his body sang with the familiar intimate contact.  He delved under her shirt to trace the soft, warm skin beneath.  Buffy moaned and that sound urged Spike on. 

Buffy broke the kiss and they both gasped for air.  Her cheeks were flush and her lips swollen.  Her half-lidded eyes looked down at Spike and he swore that his heart rolled over in his chest.  She looked like a beautiful, pagan goddess.  She proudly rose above him, baptized by the moonlight and christened by the stars. 

Slowly, the fog began to clear from Buffy's brain.  She looked down and saw Spike gazing at her with a strange expression on his face. 

"Spike?" she asked tentatively. 

Spike gave his head a brief shake to dispel the eccentric thoughts he was having.  "Yes, ducks?"

Buffy smiled widely.  "Maybe we should wait until our lives aren't in danger before we, um, 'reunite'?"

Spike laughed.  Buffy had the funniest way of phrasing things.  He forgot how innocent she really was.  Sighing deeply, Spike rolled his eyes.  "I suppose that you're right.  I might remind you that this is all your doing."

Buffy laughed.  "Yeah.  You're bad behavior is obviously rubbing off on me."

Spike leered at her.  "I like the sound of that."

Rolling her eyes, Buffy stood and helped Spike to his feet.  "Not now.  Right now, we need to find a way back to the uber-creepy house."

Spike nodded.  "Right then."

He walked to his car and opened the door.  Buffy could hear him muttering but couldn't quite make out the words.  She held back a snicker when he bumped his head on the doorjamb, but couldn't quite contain the laughter when he began to profusely curse. 

"Stupid bloody, buggering car.  I swear to God, I'm going to set the bleedin' thing on fire.  Yup, that's it, big orange flames and me, smiling and roasting a marshmallow," Spike said as he rubbed his hand over his head.  A lump was forming.  He winced and walked back to Buffy. 

Tears rolled down Buffy's face, smudging the dirt and forming new tear tracks.  Spike scowled at her and pouted, which made Buffy laugh ever harder.  

"It's not funny.  My bloody head really hurts," Spike whined. 

Buffy's laughs subsided into hiccups.  "Aww, poor baby.  Want me to kiss and make all better?"

Spike nodded.  "I got something for you to kiss, all right."

Buffy giggled and smacked his arm.  "Gutter brain."

Spike wiggled his eyebrows.  "And damn proud of it."

They stood for a minute and silence fell down around them.  The friendly banter no longer masked the sounds of the night, nor did it cover up the fact that they had to return to the house where Buffy was held.  And possibly face Riley along the way.  Buffy felt the panic flood her system again, but once again she forced it back.  Taking Spike's hand, she forced a too-bright smile on her face.  "Ready to go?"

Spike nodded and squeezed her hand. "Let's go, luv."

Hand-in-hand, they walked down the road and back into the black confines of the forest. 

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Deep in the forest, Riley listened for his prey.  He heard them chattering about some inane topic before he saw them.  Spike's hair shone bright against the moonlight, making them easy targets to spot.  With a macabre smile on his face, Riley followed them, his aberrant mind twisting and churning deeper and deeper into blackness.

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A/N: Until next time my pretties.  Oh, and if you get a chance, vote for Siren's Song at angelfire.com/fang/shattered_frames.