He hadn't been to LA in years. It had changed. It was a city of light now – even in the dead of night. He wouldn't have come here at all, but the rumours were just too enticing for the vampire to ignore. As he stood on the roof of the hotel he had taken up residence in, the gentle breeze causing his coat to billow out behind like a cape, he found that the rumours were true. He could smell him here. His scent danced on the wind, calling to him like the most elusive siren's song. He couldn't wait to find him again.

Sunlight streamed into the bedroom and gently caressed the two lovers that were wrapped around each other. In the middle of a large oak framed bed, sprawled over the dark blue sheets was a pale lithe form. His white skin was luminescent in contrast to the sheets and provided the perfect backdrop to his sapphire blue eyes. The shock of platinum hair was sleep and sex ruffled and gave him a child like appearance. The small but extremely well toned body spoke of grace and sex but gave no clue as to the power that it contained. The power that would be unleashed should any threat come to the figure curled around his body, seeking the comfort that only he could give it.

Spike pulled Angel further into his body. He had never in his entire existence felt quite so satisfied or loved. He had never been given the chance to love as he needed to. For one hundred years he had wanted to possess the body that he was holding on to but he wanted the body to have been given freely in the first place. He knew that he had no clause on his soul at that moment; if he had he would have lost it the minute that Angel begged him to never leave. He wasn't going anywhere. The claim on Angel bound him to Spike but it also held Angel's soul. He couldn't believe that Angel had given up control to him of all people but he could tell that Angel needed him to look after him. Spike swore that he would walk into the sun before allowing anyone else to harm his Angel. His Claim.

They had spent the past month in the sweet bliss of talking and fucking. Although Spike would tell other people they were fucking he knew that it was a lie. Angel couldn't handle brutal sex. For the time being he needed worshipping, slow and gentle and heart-breakingly sweet love making was all that they had done. Spike couldn't get enough of the milky skin or the dark hair. He needed to touch, stroke, kiss every inch of the body that he owned and Angel needed those touches. He was starved of affection and he craved physical contact so much so that he shivered involuntarily every time that Spike had touched him. Spike was never giving up that power.

Angel stirred. For the first time ever he slept safe, the dreams held at bay by a pair of strong arms that never left him; and it had been going on for a month. For the first time in his long life he felt like he had come home. He needed Spike more than anything and knew that he'd end up dead should Spike walk away from him. He buried into the sleep warmed skin and elicited a chuckle from his master. Spike owned him now body and soul and Angel could only hope that Spike wouldn't abuse that power. Others had before, but Spike could break him as this was the first time he had given up the power willingly.

"You awake Baby?"

"No… sleepin."

Angel snuggled in further. He had no desire to get out of bed this morning for three reasons. The first was that he would have to leave the cocoon of safety that they had built up here in the penthouse, away from the world. The second was that a he would have to strap back on the armour that he had removed under Spike's care over the weekend. That would be harder than taking it off and he wasn't sure that he would be able to keep pulling it on and off. One day he just might not have the energy. If that happened he wasn't sure that he would be able to cope and do what he had to. The third was no more than a feeling; an unpleasant coil deep in his belly that squirmed uncomfortably. He knew that something was coming; something that he feared would destroy the happiness that he had found. He felt safe and loved for everything that he was for the first time in his entire existence and he had the most awful feeling that it was about to be torn away from him.

Spike rolled them so that he was lying on top of his lover. He eased himself into Angel gently. "Can't go back to sleep luv, its Monday. You need to get that beautiful ass out of bed and go to work. Don't fret Peaches, 'm not leavin you to face the world alone though. Not leavin you at all, remember?"

Spike started to rock his body slowly, small thrusts, which would bring them both to a sweet and fulfilling climax. He began to kiss Angel's face and neck. He ran his hands through the dark hair and grinned as he felt Angel begin to stroke his back, clawing and pulling at him as his need grew. Gently, Spike slipped his fangs into the marks on Angel's neck and felt Angel shudder below him as he came. The tightening of his ass and the taste of his blood brought Spike's release, his cry muffled into the corded neck under his mouth.

He looked down on his lover's peaceful face. He could feel through the claim and the blood what was wrong with Angel. He could see his pet's thoughts, he could feel them when Angel was stressed and he wanted nothing more than to take them away.

"I know you're worried but remember when you were worried bout what your little human's were gonna think pet? I didn't let them take you from me, did I Angel? Trust me yeah? Nothin's gonna come between us."

Spike was right. The first morning that they had woken together Angel had panicked about the whole situation. He feared that his friends would make him chose, that they would make him give Spike up. Spike had merely kissed his fears away. He'd told Angel that there was nothing that anyone could do to get rid of him. That he was possessive and that Angel was his and that his friends would have to deal with it. Spike had told him that he was not going to be a secret; they would have to tell his friends. He said that he had done that before, he had been Buffy's secret and he couldn't, no wouldn't, do it again. He did say that they didn't have to tell them about the claiming.

That was still their secret. It made Angel safer that way. They both knew that if Wolfram and Hart found out that Spike had a claim on Angel, something that was more binding for a vampire than any signed contract, they would act. They had spent five years trying to get Angel in one way or another, they weren't about to let him get away now. So they had kept that a secret, but they had told his friends. Angel remembered that evening so clearly that he could simply step back in time and touch it.

They had all gathered in Angel's penthouse and Angel had ordered Chinese. They opened a bottle of wine and Fred had brought some movies with her, they ranged from Pretty Woman to Monty Python and Kill Bill. Angel needed to talk to them first and he had got their attention stuttering all the time. Unable to get the words out Spike had had to take over which he had done in his usual subtle manner. He had simply said "Me and Angel are together now. Anyone with a problem – get over it!" and it was all out in the open.

Fred had been happy for them. She was an old romantic at heart and saw it as two lovers reunited after a century apart and they didn't have the heart to correct her. Lorne hadn't seemed that surprised, he said something about their fighting being a classic avoidance technique. He then pulled Spike to one side and Angel didn't catch what was said, he was too busy fending off Wes' worries about his soul, Spike's soul and working at Wolfram and Hart whilst trying to have a relationship. It took them a while to calm him down but he seemed happy with the fact that they weren't going to lose their souls and if they did he had a restoration one to hand and that they were going to keep their relationship out of the office. They explained that neither of them wanted to be used as pawns against the other but that they had to tell their friends. Gunn seemed a little freaked out but assured them that if they gave him time and didn't flaunt the couple thing in front of him he'd be fine.

Riding on the confidence that their acceptance and well wishes had given him Angel decided to tell them about the dreams. He left out Spike's involvement and emphasised Hell more than the real life events. It took him nearly an hour to tell them everything and Spike had stroked his back and hands the whole time. He had felt safe telling them. He hadn't even cried this time. Fred did and he ended up hugging her at the end of it all. Lorne of course knew and Wes seemed to have guessed but was horrified all the same. Gunn had felt sick at the idea of what had happened to his friend, but Angel assured them that he would be fine. They all made him promise to tell them if they came back or if they changed in any way. Eventually, after a lot of tears and revelations, they did get round to watching a movie. Wes and Fred curled up in one armchair, Gunn sprawled across the floor with his back to the chair that Lorne was sat in and Angel lay back against Spike on the sofa. All in all it was a comfortable evening and Angel felt closer to his friends than he had for a very long time.

Angel brought himself back to the present to find Spike staring at him with a confused and adoring look on his face. He wanted to know where Angel had been and if Angel agreed with him. Angel didn't answer he just leaned up and kissed Spike gently, pouring all of his gratitude into the kiss. He could do this. In here he could break and bend and out there he would be the strong and steady Angel everyone knew.

It took them a full hour to get ready that morning. They both agreed, despite some pouting on Angel's part, that showering together on before work was not a good idea, they tended to get too distracted. They made this rule every Monday morning and it had always been broken by Wednesday at the latest. This new Angel was a revelation to Spike. He was needy and not afraid to show that. Spike had never thought that Angel would be the type to indulge in public displays of affection but he was. It was as if he had never felt safe enough to do it. Spike decided that he should let Angel go down to the office on his own. He spent the rest of the day finishing off packing up his apartment and moving his stuff to Angel's. It had taken him a month to move, simply because they tended to get distracted and he was lazy. He wanted to finish now though; he couldn't bear to be apart from Angel anymore. He also spent a large portion of his time annoying Angel. Now however, it was tinged with love and affection rather than hate and bitterness.

It was a busy day for all at Wolfram and Hart. There had been meeting after meeting after meeting. His hand ached from the number of contracts that he had signed and the hands that he had shook. It was beginning to wear him down and he still had to get the through the rest of the week. It might help if he could get Spike out of his head but that was impossible at the moment. Angel had to forcefully stop himself from checking the lobby every few seconds to see if Spike was lurking over by Harmony's station. He was amazed at himself. In the last month he had fallen so hard for the one person, vampire, he had always imagined would be the death of him was now a ray of sunshine in his life. A none deadly ray of sunshine of course. To be honest? It scared the hell out of Angel. He didn't think that he had ever felt this deeply for anyone in his whole life. he hadn't felt like this for Buffy, or Cordelia and he had definitely not felt this strongly about Darla – even when she had been lying in that alley giving birth and dying for their son. He doubted that even Connor would be able to sway him away from Spike.

He was truly scared by the depth of feeling that he had for the blonde. What scared him all the more though was his reliance on Spike. He knew that he couldn't afford to drop the guards that he had on his perimeter but he had been claimed. He was allowed to let Spike take care of him – that was the basis of a claim. The claiming vampire took it upon himself to protect his claim from everything. It was more powerful than the Sire/Childe bond in the fact that it was done willingly by both parties. A claimed vampire had to surrender that control to his master or else there would be serious ramifications for both parties involved. These usually took the form of insanity on the part of the Claim as they subconsciously fought the power that the other vampire had on them. That fighting caused an aggressive dominant reaction from the claiming vampire forcing them to put more pressure upon their sub. It made for a vicious cycle that neither was able to break. Angel had heard horror stories about vampires that had ripped themselves apart over this and felt very relieved that he was a willing Claim.

He had never realised how freeing it was to unload the responsibility – even if it was only for a few hours. Everyday he signed pieces of paper that had the potential to get people, even his friends, killed or seriously hurt. He felt as though each little signature chipped a little piece of his soul away. But each night he got to go up to the penthouse and fall into strong arms that caught and held him until morning. His dreams were chased away; his worries were burned up by the light that was Spike and all the love that he felt for him. He was terrified though that the light would inevitably burn him up – it was that intense.

The phone rang. He smiled as a husky British voice drawled down the wire requesting his presence upstairs. He didn't have the time to contemplate when Spike had managed to slip past him because he knew that Spike had left earlier in the day to finish packing up his apartment. He buzzed Harmony and told her that he was going for a break and that he'd be in the penthouse if there was an emergency. He heard the slight accusation in her bubbly tone but paid it no heed, putting the phone down and heading to his elevator. Impatiently he pressed the button several times as if that would hurry it up. The wait and the ride up felt like an eternity but the doors eventually opened on a cool, quiet apartment.

He moved through the main living area noting the subtle hints of Spike that had permeated his space. There was the clinging scent of saffron and camphor that was uniquely Spike. It was pungent now that the smell of tobacco had left him and it made Angel calm whenever he caught a whiff of it. It flowed over his senses like a rolling tide washing away any tension that had invaded his body since the last time it had been smelt. There was the abandoned coffee mug and the open CD case on the coffee table. The vast number of CDs and DVDs hidden in the black lacquer cabinet and the collection of random magazines stacked under the small couch side coffee table. Then there was the not-so hidden Playstation that Spike couldn't leave home without. He moved through the strange amalgamation of their lives, noticing that there really wasn't that much of him visible in the room and passed into the bedroom. Lost pondering whether or not this room reflected some part of his life he didn't notice Spike hidden in the shadows by the door until he barrelled into Angel, pinning him to the bed.

"Hello lover."

Angel quivered at the low purr that he heard in that voice. The voice that coaxed him to sleep every night and had him hard in seconds. He smiled up at Spike and laced his fingers through the ones holding his hands. They were gentle and rough at the same time – just like Spike really. On the outside they appeared calloused, worn by over a hundred years of use, yet when he wanted Spike could use them to bring the gentlest touch to Angel's skin. Touches that had him mewing and begging for everything that Spike was able to give. His voice had gone dry at the sight of Spike. His duster gone, wearing only his jeans and t-shirt, strong muscles clearly visible through the thin material.

"Hey."

That was all he could manage and anything else would have been swept away by the ardent kiss that Spike pressed to his mouth. A warm tongue slipped between his lips and traced gentle patterns all over the inside of Angel's mouth, mapping out its territory. He'd been drinking hot chocolate again and Angel moaned as his own tongue lapped up the remaining traces that coated Spike's tongue. He tried to follow when Spike pulled away but was held firmly but gently in place. Spike smiled at him and moved his arms so that he could hold Angel in place with only one hand, leaving the other free to play with the gorgeous body beneath him; the body that he owned completely.

Spike slipped his hand down the length of Angel's side, a rumbling laugh breaking through as Angel shivered involuntarily at the gentle caress and then moved it up to start undoing the buttons on the front of the silky shirt, gently stroking every inch of pale flesh that was revealed. He took his time, driving Angel insane with impatience at the speed with which he wasn't moving. With his hands held down and Spike straddling his thighs he couldn't arch up into the touch as much as he wanted to but he tried all the same. His frustrated efforts caused Spike to chuckle again and stop all of his movements. Angel growled in frustration. Spike released his hands and rested back on his haunches looking down at Angel.

Angel was already hard – an effect of both the claiming and Spike's teasing touches. Claimed vampire's always had the same reaction to their Claimer, it was as if they were permanent cats in heat whenever they were in the vicinity of their master and their master wanted sex. Their bodies responded instinctively to some subconscious call, some unknown aura that was radiated from the one that owned them. If anything though Angel's reaction was all the more immediate because of the feelings that he held for the smirking, blue eyed devil on top of him. Spike shifted his weight so that his own erection was pressing down on the bulge in Angel's trousers and began to strip the shirt off him. Once it was in a crumpled heap on the floor with his own t-shirt lying on top of it, Spike leant back down and engaged Angel's lips in a passionate kiss that melted the nerve endings in Angel's body. Angel arched up, rubbing his sensitised nipples along the marble white skin above him, hissing at the delightful friction and encouraged all the more when Spike pressed him down into the mattress, rubbing along him as if marking his territory.

Angel felt hands tugging at his trousers and he obligingly lifted his hips, shivering as Spike pushed his silk boxers down with his slacks, delighting in the gentle rubbing of the silk against his aroused cock. Spike kicked his trousers off his legs and there was Angel, lying naked and spread out below him like the most appetising meal he'd ever seen. He began to rock his body into Angel, using his jeans to provide them both with added stimulation. He kissed all over Angel's face, delighting in the taste of his skin. He didn't taste like peaches but more like warm honey. His skin was sweet and Spike could have spent the entire afternoon just licking and suckling on it. He nipped his way along Angel's jaw line, pulling gently at the skin, leaving behind a trail of slight red marks. Angel's face was glowing, a sheen of golden sweat was glittering in the dying afternoon and the pink marks from the nips made him almost look human. he panted little puffs of air into Spike's neck, inhaling the smell that was to him everything that he could ever desire.

Their rocking became frantic as they each clawed their way to climax, the rough denim providing a lot but no where near the level of friction that they both so desperately wanted. Nothing that they truly wanted was provided by this frottage, but it still brought them screaming to relief. Spike felt his cool seed spread over the inside of his jeans, frantic to get to Angel's own, desperate to be buried deep inside Angel where it belonged. Spike collapsed onto Angel's body, burrowing in deep as Angel's arms wrapped themselves around him fiercely.

When they had both calmed and the stars had stopped exploding behind their eyes, Angel kissed into Spike's neck until he turned to face him.

"You demanded to see me because you were horny?"

Spike smirked at him, the promise of more sex explicit in that wicked look.

"Nope."

"Then what?"

An adorable mix of confusion and pout crossed Angel's face causing Spike to groan and lick away the innocence, corrupting it with his impious pink tongue. Angel pulled away wanting his question answered. Blue eyes glared at him in frustration but were met with formidable puppy dog eyes that could have moved stone. Angel knew how to turn Spike to jelly both with his own wicked smirks and his total innocence, but it was his innocence that had the most profound effect. Unable to resist those chocolate orbs that for once weren't hidden beneath depths of worry and remorse, Spike sighed.

"Well… I just finished moving in and wanted to christen the place, so to speak."

Angel laughed. It was pure and honest and heart warming to here. It had the innocence of childhood and wisdom of ages. It lit up his face like no sun could ever manage. The radiance came from within and was coloured with pure joy. Spike was sure that he had never seen anything so beautiful in his life and Angel was convinced that he had never been so happy.

"You live here now?"

"Yup."

"Ok then."

And that was it. Spike was momentarily stunned that Angel had nothing more to say on the matter and a small shard of hurt began to needle at him. He was shocked when he was pulled into a passionate kiss that was all tongue and lips and teeth. When they broke apart Spike gasped for unneeded breath and shuddered as Angel started to attack his pants. He cocked an eyebrow in question and was met with a totally innocuous look that belied the words that followed.

"We still have some christening to do."