Spike watched the slight changes in light as the night passed. The odd flickers of city lights annoyed him. There was something to be said for gas lights and the clip flop of horse hooves on cobblestones. Noise and light made it hard to settle into the darkness.
Their room went from deep shadows to the blue comfort of predawn. He frowned up at the ceiling. Buffy snuggled into him, her body heating his. The illusion of life was bittersweet. His demon had mated him to this girl. His supposedly evil demon chose to mate the Chosen One.
Evil in bed with good, quite literally in this case, was mind bending. What was his purpose? He'd been meaning to kill her. Hell and damnation aside, he'd actually tried on more than one occasion. She was supposed to be his third, the glorious gem in his personal legend. He took a deep unneeded breath and relaxed as her unique scent flooded his senses.
Her scent was strong and vibrant. Her body kept it warm and present in the air for him. It was a drug beyond all others. The various scents of soap and perfume blended together to serve as a sweet enticement, but the real delight was the heated, exotic temptation of slayer blood. He'd tasted the elixir from different chalices, but those had been vinegar in comparison. He took a deep breath and waited for his hunger to roar to life, but it simply did not. Buffy, his mate, smelled like the most amazing meal in history, but he wasn't hungry.
Their relationship was evolving quickly. Thoughts of Drusilla didn't plague him. He didn't even miss her. His demon had chosen, and he was bound to that decision. Not that there weren't perks.
Watching his golden girl shove it in Angelus' face had been a rare treat.
There was more to their relationship than the joy of sticking it to the mighty poofter though. That was enjoyable, but it didn't really matter. She mattered, and it scared him to the cockles of his poor, dead heart.
She was the bloody slayer. The fact that her nubile little body fit against his so well shouldn't ameliorate their natural distrust. A vampire and a slayer were natural enemies. Some truths were unchanging, or they had been.
He considered their situation. Her easy acceptance of him could be a trap or a convenience for her. No woman, other than his mother, had ever accepted him. Even Drusilla had made him jump through hoops to earn her affection.
And there it was, the bloody rub, no woman had ever been so free with herself, so loving. No woman had ever given of herself the way this one did. He wrapped a bit of her hair around his finger. He wanted it, wanted her love and her heat and her passion. He wanted it so very much, but did she want it? Or was she just trapped in it with him?
This thing between them was the stuff of fairy tales. The Grimm ones, sure, but still a fairy tale.
This thing between them, he wanted it. He needed it to be real. There was no coming back from this.
"You think too much." Buffy rubbed her cheek against his chest. "I never would have believed it, but you just won't stop."
"I think too much?" He forced an amused chuckle. "Do tell."
"I can feel it. Your mind is always churning. Do you ever just rest?" Buffy sighed and pushed up to look at him. "We are together. We can fight that or we can fight everything else. Which do you want to fight?"
"I don't want to fight you, pet." Spike swallowed down the words of dedication and devotion that started to surface. "The world's gone mad, and here we are right in the middle of it."
"I've been in the middle of it since I was fifteen." Buffy stroked his collarbone with her finger tips. He delighted in her feather light touch. "You're not gonna leave. I'm not gonna leave. So..."
"We stand together." Spike smiled at her as she shrugged and nodded.
"We can think later. We can worry later." Buffy slid up his torso and pressed her warm lips against his jaw.
"We do other things now?" Spike smirked and raised his brow.
"I like it when you do other things." He loved watching her blush. She was still so innocent. She was a treasure. She was his treasure, and he would make sure it remained that way.
"What do you like, little slayer?" He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. "Why don't you tell your vampire what you really want?"
She blushed all over. He couldn't hold back his delighted grin. He pulled her on top of him and felt her legs settle on either side of his hips. She looked down at him and swept the curtain of her hair to one side. He could see his mark on her flesh. He slid one hand up her torso and rested his hand over it.
"I'm yours." Buffy lowered her lips to his and he reveled in her easy affection. He pushed up into her kiss, but he didn't try for more than she was offering. When she pulled back, he fought the urge to drag her back. She smiled at him, that big, bold, all is right with the world smile. "That part, the belonging part is for sure. Okay?"
"That part is definite." He pulled her hand to his own mark. "I'm not the type to run, Buffy. This has happened quickly. It's a lot to take in. I may think about it, but I am not regretting it."
Her sweet grin flashed across her face before she launched herself at him. He would spend more time thinking if it brought him to this. He rolled the slayer under him and stared down into her eyes. It was all there. His new world, their new life, all there for him to see.