1769 – Bristol, England – Late Summer
It was a beautiful afternoon in Spike's opinion. They were finally in England and were gainfully employed again after having gone almost three years without jobs or a steady place to stay. He had gotten them a flat that was close to where Willow worked. She wasn't thrilled about her job, but she liked it more than she liked him stealing her food for the last couple of years. Scullery maid was never something Willow wanted to do, but it was the job she could get, so she took it. Spike gave her credit for work ethic, she never missed a day, never slacked off, or was late. Before their three year stint without jobs, Spike would have to say that his work ethic was less than stellar. But now, he was going to make sure that his employers never wanted to let him go. He didn't like being destitute with Willow. She usually refused to let him do anything illegal until they were beyond desperate and even then it was the absolute minimum. And during that time she was keeping close tabs. He couldn't do anything without her noticing. It was balls.
But at the moment he and Willow had a mutual afternoon off and they were spending it enjoying a beautiful day, sitting on a blanket in the park. Spike went out of his way to get her food she would like. He got her some cold mutton, peas, and pudding for dessert and some syllabub to drink.
She was happily eating her food. "Ya are a god. How can we afford all him?"
Spike wasn't about to tell her that half of it was stolen, so he shrugged and said, "I am the best haggler out there. Just be warned ya'll be having peas with a lot of your meals. I hope ya don't end up hating them like ya do potatoes."
"Don't even say that word. I had to peel them today for lunch." She took a bite of peas. "So how's work going?"
"Very well. He helps that I know so much about horses now. Lord Edwards was looking for someone who knew what they were doing and he seems to think that's what he got with me. But ah, I wish he weren't horses. Someday, I'll do something that doesn't involve horses at all." At least he knew that day would definitely come. They planned on investing wisely and since they had inside knowledge on what things were going to make it big, Spike foresaw them making a killing on the market come time.
"What's your dream job?" Willow asked before taking a bite of meat.
"I have no idea. I never pictured myself working before. Perhaps I could do something with the news at some point... for just a little while. I would definitely have a unique perspective on things." He pulled at the grass and watched as the sun began to set. He didn't even think about the fact that they were going to split up in 1998 and he wouldn't have to work after that. "What about ya? What's your dream job?"
"Something with computers. I miss having a keyboard under my fingers and the headaches I'd get after sitting behind a computer screen for far too long." She was smiling and he didn't understand how she could miss headaches. "And I can't wait for women's lib to get here. This women belong to men thing really stinks. I'm sick of being treated like a child. I'm smarter than most of the men I come across, but I have to act like I'm completely dim. It really pisses me off. Women shouldn't be subservient to men."
"If you're sick of being subservient then ya can dominate me anytime," he said leering at her suggestively.
She arched an eyebrow at him like she didn't believe him.
"I mean him. Give him a try, give me an order." Just to prove that he meant what he said he got on his knees before her with his head down.
"Okay... we're in public, so this is completely safe," she muttered to herself. "Rub my shoulders."
He smiled at her with his most seductive smile. "Yes, Mistress." Then he got behind her and started giving her a shoulder rub. She stopped eating and let her head fall forward as he rubbed at the knotted muscles. He knew she worked hard but he had no idea that it did this to her. He worked at the muscles and worked at them. When she moaned, he couldn't help but smirk.
"That feels nice," she murmured. "We should go home so ya can do my whole back."
"Yes, Mistress. Shall I gather our things?" he asked taking his role very seriously. He was enjoying himself.
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. "That's a really good idea."
Spike knew that they were getting strange looks from the few people that were around, but he didn't really care. He had a plan. Seduce Willow while making her think it was all her idea. He had been sleeping with her in his arms for the last sixteen years. She was beautiful and sexy. Of course he wanted her. He had visited prostitutes a few times over the years, but he rarely wanted to spare the money for that kind of thing. And the people rarely bathed in these times. No matter how rough things got, Willow always did her best to be as clean as possible, as did he. People thought they were strange because of it. He didn't know how many times he had heard that bathes caused illness. But it simply came down to a matter of not wanting to have to smell bad. With his heightened sense of smell this was important to him. He gathered up their things and put them back in the basket he had brought them in.
They walked toward home with him carrying the basket, her arm through his, and her tattered parasol up to protect against any chances of people tossing the contents of their chamberpots out their windows at inopportune moments.
"I should have ya carry me," she teased. "My feet are sore."
"Yes, Mistress." And he swept her up into his arms.
She giggled and almost dropped her parasol. "Spike! My legs are goin' to show!"
"No they aren't, Mistress. I've got ya."
Willow clung to him and giggled some more. "I can't believe we're doing this."
He didn't need to see her face to know that she was beet red. The people they passed were gawking at them and Willow hid her face in the crook of his neck. He could feel her warm breath patter against his dead skin. Examining his existence for the first time in a really long time, he saw his human years as a bad dream. How naïve he used to be and how weak he was were things that he never wanted to look back on and see in himself. The following hundred and eighteen years were him trying to wash the nightmare away and failing miserably. The last sixteen years was like having a second chance at life. This time through he felt like he had a partner rather than someone that needed to be taken care of all the time. It was a different feeling. But he did take care of Willow, he reminded himself. He chased off her would be rapist. He looked out for Willow. Without him she'd have no other way to take care of herself than being a whore, and he didn't see her doing to well at that. But she looked out for him too. She always fed him. Even when she was angry at him, she still fed him. He could never forget that. If she had wanted to be a real pain in the arse about things she would have made him feed from animals, but she always gave herself up to him freely, without pause.
Once they were in their one room flat, he set her down gently and put the basket on the table. It could wait for later. He also took her parasol from her and placed it near the door. He lit some candles and then before she could protest he was at her feet and taking off her shoes and stalkings. She wordlessly let him do this. After that he started to unbutton her dress. This dress had been cheap, but it was impossible for her to get in and out of it herself as it fastened up the back with over a dozen tiny buttons.
"Take my hair down," she ordered in an even tone.
"Yes, Mistress." He removed all her hairpins and set them on the stand next to the bed. Then he returned to the task of getting her out of her dress. Most nights he usually just unbuttoned it for her, but tonight he pushed it off her shoulders and slipped it off her arms. He pulled it down over her hips and let it pool on the floor. Taking her hand he guided her to step out of it, he then picked the garment up and hung it in the wardrobe.
As always her corset was over her shift and he started to loosen it for her, though over the years she had finally figured out how to do this for herself. It was still easier when he did it for her and he did it now, then he pushed the corset down off her body before he also put it in the wardrobe. She was blushing and he wasn't sure why. He's seen her in her shift millions of times. He had even caught her naked a few times by accident. It was a little hard not to when you lived in each other's pocket like they did. He knew that she had seen him naked more than once. He didn't care. He only avoided it because she did.
She lay down in the middle of the bed on her stomach. "I won't be happy until every knot is out of my back," she said in an authoritative tone meant to mask some kind of embarrassment.
"Yes, Mistress." He started kneading the muscles of her upper back first and worked his way down getting her arms and hands as well. Her eyes were closed and she moaned when he hit spots that were particularly sore. He wished that he could move the shift out of his way but he knew that she would never approve of that, so he tried to work around it. When he thought he was done with her back, he asked, "Shall I do your legs and feet, Mistress?"
"Mmmm, yeah, he sounds like a good idea," she mumbled.
He lifted her shift to around her waist revealing her legs and the underwear she had made for herself. When he put his hands on her skin she shivered.
"Sorry, luv, as ya know, I haven't eaten."
Willow sat up then. "Ya should eat."
They had done this in so many positions that he was only mildly surprised when she straddled his lap and bared her throat. But instead of sinking his fangs in without preamble like he usually did, he ran his fingers through her hair and nuzzled her neck for a moment first. He thought about licking her, but thought that might be pushing it a little too far.
Normally he drained her drier than the Sahara, but tonight he wanted her awake, so he only took enough to warm him and quench his immediate thirst. If he had to suffer through a parched day the next day then so be it. It wouldn't be the first time for that. When he pulled back from her and she was still awake the surprise was evident on her face.
"Huh?"
He stroked her hair a few times. "Tonight's about you... not me. I've survived on nothing for a day or so in the past, this'll be no different."
"But..."
Spike put a finger on her lips to keep her quiet. He looked deep into her eyes. Before he was completely aware of his actions he was drawing her in for a kiss and once he did know what he was doing, he wasn't going to stop himself. She seemed willing.
Until her mouth was just a hair's breath away from his. Then she pulled back looking hurt. "Is this some kind of joke?"
Placing a hand on her face and stroking her cheek, he decided to play the respect card. "I respect you too much for this to be a joke."
She laughed a self-deprecating laugh. "Yeah right. I don't believe for a second that ya respect me. At most ya tolerate me because I'm your food source."
He sighed and placed his hands on her shoulders. "If I didn't respect ya, I'd have dropped ya like a sack of rocks a long time ago and been killing and plundering my way through time, history be damned."
"Ya just want to make sure Drusilla gets born."
"What do ya know about me and patience?" Spike asked trying a different tack.
Willow looked at him curiously trying to move off his lap, but not being allowed to. "Ya've got to be one of the most patient people I've ever met."
"Are ya kidding me? Have we met? Do you even remember how I impulsively attacked the school? Or how I had you do the spell that sent us back in time without even looking at the entire thing?" He was starting to wonder about her sanity.
She gave him an incredulous look. "That was a long time ago, Spike. Since then ya've been nothing but patient... mostly. Ya never complain about how long it'll take before Drusilla's born, and ya never get impatient with me when I'm trying to learn something new about the times we're in."
Seeing her point, he tilted his head in concession. "Okay, fine, I see how ya would think that I was patient, but I'm telling ya I have over a hundred years of time before we went on this trip that would say otherwise."
"If ya say so, Spike. What's your point anyway?" she asked putting her arms on his shoulders.
"My point is that if ya think that my only reason is Drusilla then ya've seriously misjudged my ability to be patient. Ya make up the rest of the reason. I trust that ya know what your talking about and that if I did do something to screw history up ya really would make me pay for it. See, respect all the way." He rubbed her sides.
"That would make you the only male in these times that respects me," she sighed.
"It's a sign of the times and nothing more. Don't let him get to ya. In the next century women get some rights... not many, but a few. Ya'll have a wider variety of jobs to chose from if nothing else." He tried to get her to smile, but failed. "What's really bothering ya?"
She put her hands over her face. "It's really embarrassin'."
"It can't be as bad as all that. Just tell me what's wrong so we can deal with it." He was softly stroking her back, trying to show that he was only wanting to help her. And he was telling himself that whatever the problem was he wasn't going to laugh at her because that would only make matters worse he was sure. And he didn't want to wake up as a newt. She had been practicing her magic whenever she could and she was getting better and better, so there was definite reason to fear.
This time when Willow tried to get off his lap he let her. She took a couple deep breaths and looked at him very seriously. "Just try not to laugh at me."
He made a motion like he was buttoning his mouth shut and waited.
"I'm tired of being a virgin," she said.
Spike was well aware of the fact that she was still a virgin, she still tasted as pure as when he first laid fang into her. He just never thought about it much from her perspective. Since she still looked seventeen he didn't think about the fact that she was really older than that. They never celebrated birthdays or anything over the last sixteen years, so age didn't occur to him.
"I'm thirty-three years old and there isn't a single man I've come across that I'd want to have sex with. They are all so full of themselves. And the ones that aren't would never touch me because I'm married and those ones are very few and far between. Very few. And he isn't like I can reveal that I'm not really married because of the times and all. Really he is all just very frustratin'." She humphed and threw her hands into her lap. "And sleeping in the same bed as ya every night doesn't help."
He couldn't help but smirk at that last bit. Pushing a lock of her still shoulder-length hair behind her ear, he said. "Look, if ya don't want to be a virgin anymore we can take care of that easily enough. Two people as sexy as us together and respecting each other. He isn't all that hard to figure out. I mean ya are my wife."
Willow laughed bashfully at that. "But ya don't see me that way."
Spike pulled her back onto his lap. "I've been holding back out of respect for you and not wanting to get turned into a newt. I would have to be blind not to think you are the sexiest little thing around. And sleeping in the same bed with you every night doesn't hurt that opinion at all. So shall we go back to our game, Mistress?"
She didn't answer the question because she was busy kissing him instead.
XxXx
Willow woke up the next morning and was instantly embarrassed. As usual she was pinned under Spike's arm, but this morning she was naked and last night they had had sex. She felt the sudden need to be dressed and away. Not thinking that she was going to be able to face Spike this morning, she tried to get out from under his arm without waking him. She had never tried to do this before, and this morning she found out that it didn't work.
Spike pulled her closer to him and began to kiss the back of her shoulder. "Mornin', luv."
"Ah, mornin'. I'm afraid that we may have slept in. We should hurry and get ready to go to work." She was hoping that would get him to let her go.
But unfortunately he responded with, "It's Sunday, they won't expect you in until after church and since this is a big enough city that no one is going to notice whether you go or not, we can stay in bed for another hour if we wanna."
She felt trapped. This was not something she was prepared to deal with. She had long ago mourned the loss of Oz and Xander. She had no hopes of ever having a future with either one of them. By the time she caught back up with that time, she would be a whole other person and wouldn't fit into the Sunnydale crew at all. And she wasn't going to try. There would be two Willows and she wasn't going to force them to have to deal with both of them. So that dream was long dead. It was a ghost.
But the shadow of Drusilla loomed. Spike, as far as Willow knew, still planned on whisking her away once they caught up to her. So where did that leave Willow? She was telling herself that it didn't matter because she certainly didn't love Spike. Not like that. So what did it matter that he was going to whisk Drusilla away in another ninety one years? It wasn't like her heart was going to get broken over it. She had just seen no reason to be a virgin anymore. Spike had made sense last night. They respected each other. Why shouldn't they do this?
With that last thought Willow relaxed. It was no big deal. She was sore from the night's activities, but pleasantly so. She was going to remember every touch throughout the whole day. She could think of worse things to occupy her mind. But for some reason Drusilla invaded again. She just had to know about how Spike felt about her now. It had been a long time since they had talked about her at any length.
"What about Drusilla?" Her voice was quiet.
Spike sighed. "I don't know how I feel about her anymore. I've never gone this long without her since becoming a vampire. And I don't know how she'll feel about me when she does get turned. It may never be like it was."
That far from set Willow's mind at ease, but she supposed he was being honest. It sounded like an honest answer. She hoped it was an honest answer.
He turned her over to face him. "Let's not think about her, luv. We've got ninety years before we have to worry about her."
Willow nodded and then Spike kissed her with his hand slipping down her body.
