The Act and the Aftermath

Spike wanted to confront Giles, to make him apologize for upsetting Buffy, but she wouldn't let him.

"Forget him," she said, "Just for tonight. I don't want him spoiling the rest of our evening."

"You, uh… want this evening to be special?"

"Is that you're way of asking me if I want to do the claim tonight?"

"Don't need to rush," he mumbled, ducking his head.

She approached him, lifting his chin until he was looking her in the eye as she asked, "Do you want to do this?"

"I… Buffy. I don't want to ask."

"What?" – her voice trembled a little; his nervousness having rubbed off in her.

Finally he swallowed and looked at her, earnestly. "I have to ask you… have to make sure."

She was silent, waiting for him to form the words.

"You're doing this for the right reasons, right?"

"We're doing this, for us. Nothing else matters," she answered, softly, before kissing him.

"I'm going for a shower. Why don't you change the bedding? Put on the red ones."

He nodded, kissing her again before she pulled away to undress.

Buffy was still showering by the time Spike was done making the bed. He sat idly in the living room, contemplating his long existence – as he'd gotten into the habit of doing.

"Come a long way, William," he muttered to himself; overcome with how surreal his situation was. Finally he stood, ready to start pacing the floor again, when he heard Buffy call his name from the bedroom.

Opening their bedroom door he was greeted by the sight of her wearing his leather duster - wearing only his leather duster.

"Bloody hell," he exclaimed.

"Like it?" she asked, smiling, "Thought we could make some new memories. Give this coat some history."

"Bloody hell," he said again, "I love you, woman,"

Her smile widened, and he approached her, lifting her in his arms and putting her down on the bed. Hungrily he consumed her mouth, and his hands wandered, eliciting little moans.

Through heavy breaths he asked her, "How are we doing this?"

She was perplexed for a moment, then his meaning dawned on her, "Oh, umm… just do it sometime in the middle, I guess?"

Spike chuckled saying, "Think I can pick the perfect moment," as he ground into her hips. "Don't we need a knife, though, luv?"

Buffy shook her head slightly, as she fought to undo his flies. "Will hurt a little more, but you should be able to break the skin with blunt teeth, right?"

He stilled her hands and released himself from the confine of his jeans.

"Don't want to hurt you, luv."

"Good pain," she said, "Not pain pain. You taught me that."

He couldn't help put grin. "You're sure?"

"Sure," she affirmed, "Now take your clothes off."

Obediently he complied.

As Spike rocked Buffy towards her third orgasm he felt pain in his head, similar to the night he'd first began his transition into becoming human.

"Buffy, uh," he said, panting, "Think something's… happening."

"Umm," she moaned in response, not really able to take in his words.

"Buffy," he said again, as he lost control and the bones in his face shifted into that of his old vampire visage. Instinct overcame him, and he slid his fangs into her soft neck, while still thrusting his hips.

Buffy moaned louder and titled her head more to the side, allowing him greater access.

Taking a single gulp he licked the wound closed and whispered "Mine" against her skin.

"Yours," she agreed, before biting his neck in return, and declaring, "Mine!" over him as she tipped into ecstasy.

"Yours," he replied, as he spilled his seed inside her and his face returned to normal.

Instantly they fell asleep and shared a vision.

A woman clothed in lilac robes approached them – her face obscured with a radiant light. "Warriors," she addressed them, "You have received your reward. Your union is now complete. Be blessed."

That was it. They blinked and the woman was gone. They were back in their bedroom, looking at each other in darkness, as at some point night had fallen around them.

"Wow," Buffy had said.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"Blood lust?" she asked.

"Gone," he confirmed. "How do you feel?"

She blushed, admitting, "Kind of turned on, actually."

Spike grinned wickedly, before leaning in to kiss her.

She took the next day off work, deciding to spend it in bed.

The day after that, Buffy came home in a huff. Frustrated, she threw down her handbag and stomped over to Spike, who was sat at the table, taking a break from filling in job application forms.

"What's up, luv?" he asked, pulling her into his lap.

"Got called into a review meeting at work. Apparently they don't take too kindly to me blowing off my job and then turning up with something that looks suspiciously like a hickey."

"That so," he said, trying to sound sympathetic.

"Yeah," she pouted, "Got an official warning,"

Wrapping his arms around her he drawled, "Guess I'll have to make up for that."

"But, umm… oh," she mumbled, getting caught up in the moment.

Returning to her senses a half hour later, on the kitchen floor, she rolled over on her side and looked at her panting husband.

"That's one way to relieve tension," he said.

"Uh huh," she agreed. "Have you uh, noticed that it's more, umm…"

"Intense? Yeah."

Buffy smiled, admitting, "I didn't think it was possible."

He turned to face her more, and started tracing invisible lines gently across her flesh as he mused, "Think we'd already found our physical intensity. And our emotional. Now we've got a spiritual connection, it opens more doors."

"And I'm guessing more intense sex isn't gonna be the only side effect, right?"

"It… How I understand it, it's like, before I knew how you were feeling. But now it's more. I feel what you feel, an' our feelings feed off each other."

"That's it," she agreed. "That's what it's like. You feel good, which I can feel, which makes me feel good, and it just one big good-ness fest." Then she frowned, and he felt uneasiness ripple through him. There was a question in his eyes that he didn't need to verbalize.

"I'm guessing it works both ways," she continued. "We share bad feelings now too?"

He nodded, "Yeah, but it doesn't create the bad feelings in the first place. They come regardless. Now you've just got someone to share the burden with."

That made her relax again, "Good way to think about it."

He sat up, then, and helped her to her feet.

Pouting she said, "Only one round?"

He smirked, saying, "You're hungry. Gotta feed you before I shag your brains out."

Scrunching up her nose she asked, "You can feel my hunger?"

He laughed, "No. Can hear your stomach beginning to rumble, though."

"Oh."

Later, after food, Buffy decided it was time to check in on Dawn, and that meant facing her ex-watcher too. The Slayer cursed her rotten luck as her sister wasn't home.

"You went through with it then, I assume?" Giles asked, as the couple sat awkwardly across from him.

"We did," Buffy confirmed.

"And it solved the problem?"

"It did," said Spike.

Giles was taken aback. "I didn't expect that."

"We know," the couple said in unison, and then shared a look.

"Can I… I mean. I don't want, uh."

Spike shook his head and finished Rupert's sentence for him, "You don't want the gory details, but you want to understand the process, yeah?"

Giles nodded, and removed his glasses.

Continuing, the ex-vampire said, "Ask away, just one thing first. Don't you ever hurt my girl like that again, got it?"

"Spike!" Buffy reprimanded him.

"What? It's not right he makes you cry and then gets bloody forgiven just like that, without even saying he's sorry."

The watcher looked sheepish. He hadn't meant to make her cry, but the fact that what he said upset her gave him hope that his opinion really did mean something to her after all.

"I am sorry," he said, finally.

"Thank you," said Buffy, but it was aimed at Spike. He smiled back at her, which reminded Giles of his questions about their newfound connection.

His fascination grew the more they told him, and so did their frustration.

"Uh, Giles," Buffy finally spoke up, "I have work tomorrow, and it's getting late."

"Yeah," Spike agreed, "Plus I gotta take this one home and sh-"

Buffy elbowed him in the ribs, cutting off his comment. "Uh, yeah. Very tired. Any more questions just email them over. Tell Dawn I'll catch her later."

To be continued...