Serious Talk and Surprises

As Spike worked his way through the labyrinth of corridors looking for room twenty three, with the slayer still wriggling in his grasp, he complained about how much everything had changed. "They've ripped down walls all over the bloody place. Moved all the rooms about."

Buffy laughed, "Spike, honey, focus. If we're gonna do the grand tour you're gonna have to set me down so I can see straight."

"No," he grunted, eyeing a sign indicating the way, "Rest of the tour can wait."

Finally finding the room, he put the key in the lock with so much force that he almost snapped the mechanism clean in half. They fell through the threshold, landing on the floor – Buffy on her back, Spike on top, hurriedly trying to remove her clothes.

"Hang on, hang on, get the lights," she said.

"Screw the lights," he said, but she wriggled away from him, forcing him to sit up and take a breath.

"I am not getting caught with the door open again, and I can't shut it if you're in the way so move. Get on the bed."

"Yes m'am," he said, pulling her with him.

She laughed at his enthusiasm thinking, 'I could do this forever'.

Using one arm to pin her hands above her head where she lay on the comforter, he used his free arm to continue undressing her while laying kisses up and down her neck.

Not feeling that things were going fast enough, Buffy pushed his arms aside and rolled on top to undo his pants, but as soon as she had them off she stopped and her brow furrowed.

"Buffy," he protested. "We were kinda in a moment."

"I think we need to stop," she said, in monotone, and he sat up.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" he said, before pushing his frustration aside. "What's wrong?"

"I, uh… we forgot."

"Forgot?"

She blushed and turned her head to look around the room – to look at anything but her lover who was sat between her legs, hard as a rock.

Taking hold of her chin, he turned her head back towards him but she still wouldn't meet his gaze. "What did we forget, pet? You're looking spooked."

"Condoms," she blurted out and he breathed a deep sigh of relief before laughing.

"Oh, kitten, you are cute. Had me worried for minute there."

She glared at him, long enough that he had to take her seriously. "What? It's nothing."

"No, Spike," she said, climbing off him. "It's not nothing. How can you say that?"

He was dumbfounded. "You're really gonna waste this opportunity because we don't have any jimmies?"

"We can't risk it. It's a big risk. Why aren't you taking this seriously?"

With a sigh he resigned himself to the fact she wasn't gonna change her mind – again – so he reached over the side of the bed, to retrieve his pack of smokes from the pocket of his discarded clothes before pushing himself up the bed, so his broad shoulders leant against the headboard.

She was pacing them room, wearing only a pair of lace panties that he'd picked out for her earlier that day.

"Don't you care that I could get pregnant?" she asked him. "And please don't answer that if it's not yes."

"Of course I care," he said, tossing the packet of unopened cigarettes aside and reaching out for her wrist, trying to pull her into an embrace. "Though I'm not sure I really mind."

She resisted his grasp. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that just maybe it'd be a good thing if-"

"You're not serious," she said, not letting him finish. "We've barely been together two months."

Standing up and taking hold of her firmly he raised his voice, "Stop bloody pacing, woman. You're gonna get us charged for wearing a hole in the carpet."

"See," she said, pulling away from him again, "Everything with you is just a big joke, how can-"

He grabbed hold of her more firmly this time. "Stop pushing me off, will you? I'm not joking. Where has this, 'Only been together two months' bull come from? Haven't I loved you for years? Didn't you say we were forever?"

Forcing herself to calm, she looked up into his eyes that were masked with hurt.

"I didn't mean it to sound like that," she said, finally letting the embrace happen. "I'm sorry. Just a little wigged here."

"Yeah," he said, "I noticed."
"This is a big deal. Not really a conversation to be had while still under the influence of horny desires."

He smiled at her, the tension gone from his body. "I know it's a big deal, Buffy. You think this is the first time I've thought about it?"

"It's the first time I've mentioned it."

"Doesn't mean the little cogs weren't whirring already, luv. On a purely practical note, we've been spending a fortune on rubbers. What with our appetites being a little, um, insatiable? Not like the cash couldn't be put to better use."

She shook her head, "Again with the joking."

"Sorry," he said raising his hands in surrender, "I'll be sensible from here on out. Swear."

"When I said I want us to be forever, I meant it. I still do. But bringing another little person into the equation shouldn't be decided on a whim."

He sat down again, turning her around to rub her shoulders. "This isn't a whim. Like I said, I have thought about it. And yeah, okay, I probably should have shared those thoughts with you at some point before we 'forgot', but why don't we get to the real issue here?"

Turning back around to face him, she took a momentary glace at his penis before raising her eyes to meet his. 'This conversation would be a hell of a lot less awkward with pants on', she thought, before shaking her head once more. "Real issue?"

"I reckon you're scared of motherhood."

"Damn straight!" she said, with more emphasis than she intended.

Ignoring her little outburst he continued. "Being the slayer, you thought you'd never get to grow up and have regular things, no matter how much you wanted them. And what with your habit of falling for guys that couldn't exactly give you those things on top of that, you stopped letting yourself even imagine a future with a family of your own."

"Not true," she said, and he gave her a quizzical look. "Knowing you can't have something doesn't stop you imagining. If anything it makes you daydream of it more. But it's when it might actually happen that how truly terrifying it all is really hits you. You should know that."

"I do. Okay? I understand. And I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. There's no guarantee you'd get pregnant right away anyway. Some couples try for years without ever producing a sprog. I'd say we use condoms when we have them but just let it happen anyway when we don't. Let nature take its course and stop worrying. As I said earlier, it might even be a good thing."

Taking a deep breath she sat down next to her man, taking hold of his hand. "You're right. I shouldn't have freaked. And if… when it does happen, it will be a great thing. I'm sure of it."

Smiling, he leaned down to kiss her forehead before hugging her tightly.

She ran her hands up and down his arms as he held her, teasing his flesh under her fingertips. "I think it's time we picked up where we left off," she said, coyly.

"Ha!" he said, backing up the bed and taking hold of his cigarettes again, "Not bloody likely."

"Oh come on! You can't do that to me."

"I can," he said, with a smirk. "You shut me down. I'm not in the mood anymore."

With that she looked back down as his raging hard on asking, "Have you told that to your lower half?"

Stubbornly he ignored her and lit up.

"Spikeee," she said, trying to sound especially seductive. "I know you want me."

His heart rate increased, but he refused to give her the satisfaction of admitting he couldn't hold out very long. It was only when she reached out to take him in her hand that he let out the deep breath he'd been holding in.

"Don't start something you're not gonna finish, Slayer," he warned her.

"Oh I'll finish," she said, climbing up his body.

Completely overcome with her advances, he paid no mind to what he was doing and let the dangling cigarette drop from his lips unto his bare chest.

"Shit!" he shouted, jumping up. "Oww, fuck."

Buffy jumped up too, picking up the butt and throwing it into the sink before grabbing a towel and soaking it in water.

"Here," she said, "Lay back down, adding cold water should help to sooth it a bit."

"Uh, Buffy," he said, looking down at his rapidly decreasing scorch mark, "Are you seeing this?"

"Yeah," she said, "You're healing fast, so what?"

He looked up at her, waiting for the realization to hit her.

"Wait. Why are you healing fast?"

"Excellent question. Wonder why I hadn't thought of it," he deadpanned.

Reaching out to touch his now smooth skin she pulled her hand back to cover her mouth in shock. "I don't get it. Does it still hurt?"

"Slight discomfort. Searing pain's just… gone."

"We gotta ask Giles about this."

Disappointed, he pulled his clothes back on. "Knew shagging out of earshot of the watcher was too good to be true," he muttered.

To be continued...