Disclaimer: Maybe if I close my eyes and wish real hard something other than the plot will actually belong to me…but I seriously doubt it!
A/N: Well here's the storm I was telling you about. Hope you haven't gotten bored with me already! Please let me know what you think – love you all and appreciate all the feedback I get!
Chapter 26: Counting down…
Xander had been pacing the floor of his apartment for the last hour – ever since Riley had left! At first he'd been happy to see Riley after spending so long as the only male in the group, and with Riley around again maybe Buffy would have gotten over this weird Spike fixation she seemed to have. But all of his hopes had been quickly dashed when Riley had told him what he'd seen down in Spike's crypt. Just the thought of it made Xander's flesh crawl! Buffy had not only let that thing touch her, but claim her as well! She thought she was in love with him! Xander had thanked Riley for the information then spent the last hour trying to figure out exactly what had happened. Obviously Spike had done something to Buffy, he was sure Spike didn't have a thrall like Dracula – but a spell maybe! Yes that must be it! A Spell to make Buffy his sex slave or something similarly depraved!
The next question was obviously what were they going to do about this? Once Buffy came to her right mind she would be furious that Spike had gotten away with this and they had to find a way to end this as quickly as possible. Willow! She would know what to do; she would be able to break any spell Spike might have thought up! Xander quickly ran to the phone and dialled the number he knew from memory…
"Morning." Buffy mumbled against Spike's bare chest as she awoke that evening.
"Morning luv." Spike replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You ready to get up?"
"Wanna stay here!" Buffy grumbled, snuggling closer to Spike, wrapping one of her arms around his waist to emphasise her point.
Spike chuckled. "You're the one who wanted to go talk to the Scooby's today!"
Buffy sighed, rolling on to her back next to Spike, staring at the ceiling. "Do we have to?" she asked.
Spike shrugged and rolled onto his side to face her. "Well I don't really give a toss if I never speak to any of them again, but I thought you wanted to tell them about us."
"I do." Buffy admitted. "But I just know they're gonna over react and make a big deal out of it!"
"So we tell them we're happy and sod what they think!" He replied. "We know Dawn's happy about it and she's the only one who matters other than us!"
"I guess you're right." Buffy sighed "But do we have to go right now?"
Spike grinned devilishly. "Well," he purred, "I can think of better things to do first!" Without another word Spike began placing gentle kisses on the golden skin left uncovered by the sheet bunched at Buffy's waist. She writhed beneath him as he teased her with his lips teeth and tongue, tasting her everywhere but where she most desperately craved him.
"Please Spike!" She begged him as his tongue danced around, but never touched one of her rosy nipples. Spike chuckled against her soft flesh, the vibrations sending a delightful thrills trait to her sex. Buffy's mewls finally convinced him to give in however as he took the bud between his lips, teasing it with his blunt teeth causing Buffy to moan. Spike propped himself up on one arm, never stopping his ministrations. His other hand began a slow path, palming her other breast, then trailing down across her belly before it slipped under the sheet. Buffy willingly parted her legs to allow Spike passage. She bucked against his hand as he slid one finger into her hot, wet, channel, while his thumb manipulated her clit with perfect technique.
It wasn't long before Buffy was screaming his name in ecstasy, and it would be several hours and many orgasms later that the pair would be able to pull them out of bed…
"Xander are you quite certain of this?" Giles asked for the tenth time.
"Yes Giles I'm certain!" Xander replied, exasperated. Xander, Giles, Willow, Tara and Anya had gathered in Buffy's living room once Xander had passed on Riley's news. Giles seemed reluctant to believe what he was hearing, until he considered her dalliance with the vampire before her death. He was however in agreement with Xander that Spike must be taking advantage of her confused state since her return – time in a hell dimension must be damaging to anyone. Willow was blaming herself, saying that she should have been there for Buffy more – maybe then she wouldn't have felt the need to turn to Spike for comfort. Xander didn't care what her reasons were – he just wanted it to stop!
"I say we go over there and stake him now!" Xander exclaimed, tired of pussyfooting around. "Whatever he's done to Buffy is sure to wear off once he'd dead…well, more dead…right?"
"It's not that simple Xander." Willow explained "If Buffy thinks she has genuine feelings for Spike then it might be worse for her if we kill him. She might even try to protect him!"
"Willow's right." Commented Giles. "I think the best course of action is…something of an intervention perhaps."
"You mean let her know that we're all here for her and love her and he doesn't need to do this?" Tara asked.
"Yes, that sounds about right." Giles sighed, taking off his glasses to wipe them once more.
"But we've been doing that ever since she came back!" Xander pointed out. "We've all been here for her, she's the one who tried to avoid us."
"Exactly." Replied Giles. "If we get Buffy on her own and…force her to listen to us, it might have more of an effect."
"How exactly do you propose we force a slayer to listen to us Giles?" Anya asked.
"I know a spell." Willow commented. "It's kind of a containment spell. It wouldn't hurt her at all, just keep her in place until she'd heard what we had to say."
Giles nodded. "It sounds reasonable enough."
"But what about spike?" Questioned Anya – ever the voice of reason. "You really think he's going to let Buffy out of his sight so we can get her alone? They've got to know that Riley would have told us what he saw and that we'd try and undo whatever he did!"
"Ooh!" squealed willow "I have an idea!"…
The sun had not been set long when Buffy and Spike made their way towards the slayers house in comfortable silence. Spike had one arm wrapped around Buffy's waist and she rested her head against his shoulder. They fit together perfectly, each comfortable in the embrace of the other. "You know what I'm looking forward to?" Buffy asked, breaking the quiet.
"What's that ducks?" Spike asked.
"Being able to do this whenever we want." She breathed "Just being together without worrying who can see us."
"That would be nice." Spike commented, though his voice was uncertain. "You do know the Scooby's are likely to take this as well as last time don't you?"
"I know." Buffy replied, her own voice calm. "But I thought you didn't care what they thought."
"I don't!" Spike insisted. "But I know they mean a lot to you." He didn't voice his insecurities, but Buffy knew they were there. She pulled away from him slightly, turning towards him and taking his face in her hands, looking him dead in the eye so he would see the honesty of her words.
"You mean more!"…
"They're coming!" Giles announced to the assembled group. "Is everything ready."
"Yep!" Xander replied triumphantly "Dawn's at a friends for the night."
"The spells are all in place." Willow piped up.
Giles lifted the tranquilliser gun they had used on Oz. "I guess this is it then. Now you all know what to do?" there was a collective round of nods and they all headed into the hall to await the slayer and her vampire…
Spike and Buffy shared a kiss on her porch before they entered the house. "Ready?" Spike asked, as they broke apart.
"As I'll ever be!" Buffy replied with a sigh. "Love you."
Spike smiled. "Love you too pet."
With a final chaste kiss on his lips Buffy turned to open her front door…then all hell broke loose…
A/N: hope that was interesting enough for you to want to read more! Please review and let me know what you think – love you all!!!
