A/N: The long awaited and promised chapter. The storm I wrote and the colours in the sky – I got the inspiration for that by looking out of my window at 3am in the morning. Some stromy weather here recently. Anyway, read on -

Buffy noticed the subtle shift in the creases of his face, the slight alteration in the way he stood – slouched now, comfortable but ready to strike. He arched his scarred eyebrow at her, stuck the tip of his tongue out through his teeth just like he used to. Except now there was an extra menacing presence to him. His whole demeanor exhibited sexuality, dangerous sexuality.

Combining that with the newly dark blue depths of his eyes Buffy felt like she was standing before a stranger. A stranger who wanted to hurt her. Instinctively she got into a defensive stance, which wasn't easy with the water gushing around her.

Spike laughed a little. With her hands up in a peek-a-boo pose, water lapping against her chest and shaking like a leaf she must have looked ridiculous. The Slayer did not care. She sensed danger and she reacted to it in the way she knew how, the way she was trained to.

Spike bowed his head, strange eyes directed to look right into her. He began to glide through the water towards her. There was no other word for it; he glided. The water-feral within must be rearing its head in bigger ways then Buffy first thought.

The Slayer attempted to shift just a little but her sodden jacket was hindering her movements. Without a second thought she undid it and shrugged it off leaving it to float behind her in the water. Spike's eyebrows lifted appreciatively. Buffy looked down at herself. Her white shirt had gone see-through. She looked back up, got back into a fighting position.

Her skin was immersed in ice-cold water and chill winds and her body was screaming at her to find warmth right away but she couldn't. Hypothermia was not her biggest concern at the moment and the Slayer focused her mind to block out the sensations of her frost-covered body.

Her gaze never strayed from the man in front of her.

"So," Spike's voice slithered out of his pale lips "How we gonna do this? Rough or tender? Lady's choice"

"There's a tender way for me to kick your ass?" Buffy quipped, arching a honey-colored eyebrow.

His laugh was like wind chimes "We both know that's not what we're doing here"

"That so?" She breathed, an icy plume expelled into the air "So, what are we doing?"

Spike smiled softly but the hardness was still in his eyes "We're dancing"

Buffy watched him. This demon that had taken over Spike's mind, Spike's memories and couldn't hate it. Inside it was still Spike. She saw the way the water ran in rivulets down Spike's hard, pale chest, she saw the way his hair had began to curl at the front from the contact of the water. It made her wish she were with the real Spike. Made her wish she had thought to bring him to the beach instead of the lake. Splash water into his face and make him laugh. He didn't laugh nearly as much as he used to when she had first known him. She mourned that loss.

"It's all we've ever done" Buffy finished the memory.

His lip curled up into a smirk. Like the Spike of times past. Then he dived under the water and grabbed her around the legs, lifting her up and then throwing her down none too gently back into the sea. Her back stung from the harsh slap of water against her skin and several shivers ran down her back as she tried to gather herself and stand.

Spike's arms wrapped around her ribs tightly so much so that she was having trouble gathering her breath. He pulled her up out of the water and stood there holding her against him. The deep blue eyes she looked into studied her face.

"You're a pretty one" He whispered and the breeze carried it away.

Buffy put her hands up against his chest "If you want this so much...I won't fight it. On one condition"

He cocked his head curiously, looked into her green eyes and his brow furrowed. He did not expect the Slayer to give in so easily but Buffy had figured something out. The water-feral wanted to mate. She was the only female around. So, it was her. To keep Spike with her she would do it on the one condition.

"What's that then?" He rasped, voice heavy with the promise she had bestowed.

"I want Spike"

The demon before her cocked his head as if not quite hearing her right. Buffy only looked at him impassively. She knew he understood what she meant. She wanted the demon to let Spike come forward and she would go willingly. A willing mate was so much more pliant then an unwilling one.

After all he had said it was lady's choice. She had made her choice and it was Spike. Now it was time to see if the demon made good on its offer.

Spike shrugged, looked up into the night sky then back at her "A mate's a mate. You want the vampire? Have him. All the same to me"

Buffy nodded. In many ways she really didn't think that the demon was going to honor her request. After all it was a demon. Not generally known for being compliant and agreeable. Half of her still expected it to trick her. But when he blinked, when he blinked and it was his eyes again she knew. It was Spike, her Spike.

He looked afraid. Of her. Or of himself. Which one she was not completely sure.

"Buffy..." His voice quavered, his lips shaking "No. We can't. I...I can't"

She reached up and placed her hands on his face, ran her index fingers down the sharp inclines of his cheekbones. His skin was ice cold. It tried to steal the last remnants of heat from her fingertips. The rain still beat down on them and Buffy blinked the splashes away, his skin glowed in the darkness and all she really saw was him. But then she had felt that way for a while now. Whenever Spike was around the shutters went up and Buffy was blindsided by him.

The Slayer shrugged, went for a smile "Oh, I don't know...moonlight beach, lightning in the sky, the rain...I think it's kind of romantic. Besides, everyone knows that rain always makes people look twice as sexy, look at all the boy bands that use it in their videos. Backstreet Boys can't be wrong –"

"You're babbling, luv" Spike whispered gently, a small smile tugging at his lips "And ruining the intense moment by talking about poofy boy bands"

"I'm hoping it's gonna last longer then a moment, Spikey" She arched an eyebrow, gave him a crooked grin.

Spike's eyebrows lifted comically but then he frowned "This isn't how it should be, Buffy. You're...I don't want to force you into this"

Buffy lifted her arms and held them above her head, wrists crossed over one another as though she was handcuffed "I'm going willingly, officer"

"That isn't funny" He mumbled.

She smiled "Oh, come on. It kind of is" she lowered the arms over his head so the looped around his neck and joined behind his head "After all, you always wanted me tied up"

"Not anymore" Spike looked at her "I...I just want you. But not like this! Not because you feel some obligation"

Buffy rolled her eyes "Spike, you talk too much"

With that she kissed him softly on the lips cutting off further protest from them. Spike gasped into her mouth and he hesitated only a moment before wrapping his arms more tightly around her and lifting her out of the water. She wrapped her legs around his waist as Spike waded into the shore.

He lowered her down onto the sand, the sea still lapping at them. Buffy barely noticed the cold anymore. No, that wasn't strictly true. She noticed it and she wallowed in it. Spike was the cold, she was the warmth and that was how it would always be. The Slayer had accepted that now.

Spike pulled back, looked at her face "Buffy, I –"

"Spike, I know what you're gonna say" She pressed her fingers against his lips "And, no, I'm not doing this out of pity or out of obligation. I'm doing this because I want to. This water-feral thing...it was just the catalyst. The thing we needed to get it together, finally. Spike, if our foreplay and flirting goes on any longer we'll get our own saga. And you may be immortal but I would kind of like to have the whirlwind romance before I turn eighty"

The vampire looked at her. He blinked. Reached out and brushed a strand of hair from across her forehead, tucked it behind her ear. The way he was looking at her was so intimate she envied it. Buffy Summers could never pull away from the world so much as to completely lose herself in one person. But tonight she could try.

"Actually," Spike said softly "I was going to say I love you"

Buffy looked at him, widened her eyes comically "Oh"

"Yeah, oh" He grinned.

Spike leaned down and kissed her again and this time he didn't stop.

A/N: The end of this chapter is what in TV world would be called "Fade to Black". I'm not into writing big, long sex scenes and the rating for only goes up to R so...but anyway rest assured they are doing the deed right now as we speak. I'm thinking about doing a chapter from Andrew's POV but I'm not sure I can write him well. Tell me if you want to see more Andrew.