Buffy found Spike asleep in the library. She grinned at the sight of him, his head thrown back over the back of the chair, mouth slack, and still managing to balance on just two of the chair's four legs. He looked so adorable. All she wanted to do was lick him. She bit her lip to keep from giggling.
Half the books were shelved, but the library was far from full. Giles could move some of his boxed up collection here, maybe. She tilted her head. It was good to think about how their lives could work together. She touched the ring on her hand with her thumb. It felt like a part of her already.
Buffy turned and examined her mate once more. He looked like a Greek statue come to life.
Drusilla had been mostly silent today, but Buffy was so glad she had listened. Sure, Dru's version of Stop in the Name of Love was a little unorthodox and had kept her away from psych class, but the bond was making itself known. Going would have been a disaster. She needed to be here. It wasn't a big deal to miss a class from time to time. After all, she could get the notes from Willow without having to sit there.
She slipped off her shoes and bent down to kiss Spike. She shivered as his cool flesh rippled under the hand resting on his abdomen. God, he was delicious.
"Well, well, hello, Love." He spoke gently against her lips. Who knew that could be so hot?
"Hi." She licked his lips lightly. "I missed you."
"Did you now?" He pulled her across him without losing his balance.
"There's no one here to disturb us." Buffy trailed her fingers along his side, and smiled when he wiggled. The chair wobbled under them, and she giggled. "Want me to show you how much?"
The chair flipped out from under them and they wound up sprawled on the floor with Spike on top of her. He licked the side of her neck and she shivered.
"Missed you, too." He kissed the tip of her nose. "How about we show each other how much?"
Angel stared at the door to Rupert Giles' apartment. Guilt surged up inside him. This place always hit him hard. It had been bad enough to kill the man's love, but to display her like that had been a step too far. The guilt and pain could be ignored though. They had to be. He had a mission.
Buffy needed him, and he had failed her. Watching her fall victim to the power of the bond she shared with Dru's precious idiot was horrible, but he had gone to their home confident in his solution. He had been sure Spike would jump at the chance to have his sire at his side once more, but the bastard had gone and done the unthinkable. His beautiful Buffy was being rut upon by a beast. It was unthinkable.
Joyce hadn't wanted to see him. He had forced her to listen to him, yelling on her front lawn until she had opened the door. Giving her unvarnished truths had worried her, but the woman actually seemed to like Spike. Reasonable people did not like William the Bloody. It was that simple.
Giles could be made to see sense. The man knew better than to trust a soulless vampire. Angelus had seen to that. Together they might stand a chance of convincing Buffy to give up the days, to undo this damned mating. At worst, they could find a way to undo this. There had to be a way. Nothing in the universe was immutable.
Buffy was his destiny and Spike was not going to steal her away. That annoying bastard would not get his happy ending. He ground his teeth and fought the urge to let his vampiric visage free.
He knocked and Giles answered. They stood on either side of the threshold staring at each other. This was never comfortable or easy, but it had to be done.
"May I come in?" Angel asked.
"No." Giles stepped back and moved to close the door. "You seem to be spinning out of control, Angel. Go back to Los Angeles and find your center."
"I am not spinning out of control. I am trying to save Buffy." Angel tossed his hands in the air. "We can't just accept this disaster."
"You were resigned to it at first." The watcher tilted his head slightly. "You returned his funds and released the house to him."
"They forced my hand." Angel fisted his left hand next to his leg. "I didn't have time to accept and understand what had happened."
"Go back to L.A." Giles sighed. "Buffy and Spike have made their choices. I believe they were rather clear about their feelings toward you, Angel. We can handle things here."
"He will hurt her, Giles. I raised him, made him. He won't be satisfied with her gentleness. Vampiric sex is demanding. He will try to dominate her. Violence is part of that."
"Yes, we all saw that last night. You would have raped him, and she would have felt it. You didn't care in the smallest way that it would hurt her, that you would be forcing her. He saved her from that." Giles swallowed audibly. "He shows her kindness and tenderness at every turn. You've given her pain, again and again."
"I love her." Angel spoke softly. "I don't want to hurt her."
"What you want means nothing." Giles sighed. "What you do is important."
"I gave up being human with her, gave up making love with her, gave up picnics and days at the beach with her. I gave all that up. I gave her up for the greater good, because the oracles said she would live longer if I remained a vampire." Angel gripped the door frame.
"She would have chosen you over a longer life. She was willing to do anything to save you when you were poisoned, even kill another human. She would have endured anything for you, but you left. You are always making choices for her, leaving her." Giles pulled the door open further. "Giving up your humanity was just another form of abandonment."
"Spike has no soul. He is evil." Angel ground out the words. "He will drag her into his stupid schemes."
"He set about securing her future as soon as he could. His schemes, as you call them, have all pertained to bettering their living conditions." Giles shook his head slightly. "Buffy is an adult. She may be young, but she is capable."
"Spike will ruin her. He'll defile her." Angel slammed his fist against the invisible barrier that was keeping him out of the apartment. "How can you stand it?"
"She is his mate. He is doing everything he can to make her happy. Spike called me to ask about her color preferences and what training equipment she would need." Giles smiled. "He protects her, helps her, love or no. I'll take Spike, soulless demon that he is, over you."
The door swung shut with quiet finality. Angel growled and spun away. He rubbed his face with his hand. He needed assistance and there was one person that would hate this almost as much as he did. He closed his eyes and started counting preemptively.
Xander would see it his way. They could work together to save Buffy. They had in the past.
Spike trailed his fingers through Buffy's hair and stared at the overturned chair. She was warm and slick against his side and all thoughts of tickling him had been driven from her mind. He kissed her temple, enjoying the beat of her pulse against his lips.
"I think I should drop psych and just spend my afternoons studying you." Buffy grinned at him.
"I think your mother might view that as grounds for chasing me about with an axe." Spike tapped her chin with his finger.
"She wouldn't catch you, and it would be so worth it." Buffy pressed the flat of her palm to his chest.
"I'm flattered, Love, but school is important." He smiled as she stuck out her lower lip in that tempting pout of hers. "Besides, we're gonna have workers in and out over the next few weeks."
"Okay, but what about the bond. What if I need you?" She blushed.
"Our bedroom is soundproof." He smiled as her color darkened. Gods, how he enjoyed the life in her. She was always changing, always surprising him. "Wouldn't want to share even your sweet cries with any other bloke."
"We're gonna need soft rugs in every room." She shifted and showed him a skinned elbow. "I think my bottom probably looks just like this."
"I'll check what's in storage in a bit." Spike pulled her body to lie over his. "Would you mind a fur rug?"
She shook her head and kissed his chin.
"Know your generation gets fussy about such things." He rubbed her shoulders. "Didn't want it to be an issue."
"It seems a little cliché, but I like the idea of you sprawled in front of the fire on a bearskin." She giggled. "Yeah, I like that a lot."
Spike closed his eyes as their mingled scents were overwhelmed by her fresh arousal. This was bliss. She wanted him. He didn't have to torture her. He didn't have to be hurt. She had chosen him and she kept on doing it.
"I'll buy one for every bloody room, but, right now, I'm going to carry you back to our bed and lave every tiny hurt with my tongue."