Title: Just a Little Spell (12/9/04)

Author: Slaymesoftly

Rating: NC17

Word Count 100,590

Season IV – begins during Something Blue

Summary of this part - Short, sort of mild pwp, from Buffy’s pov during Willow’s spell. Followed by Spike’s pov of the same time frame. Non-canon, right from the beginning. Spike and Buffy get a bit more involved than they had a chance to on the show and must learn to live with the consequences. The rest of the story is about how they adjust to their new relationship and how it affects both their lives and the lives around them.

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Just a Little Spell

Part I Buffy pov

I don’t know what everyone is so wigged out about. Yeah, ok, maybe it is kinda sudden, but it’s not like that attraction between us hasn’t been there since the first time I saw him. I mean, how blind does everyone have to be to not have noticed?

Blind. Oops, my bad. Poor Giles. I’m sure he’d be handling this a whole lot better if he wasn’t blind. But, hey! At least he got a chance to see how valuable Spike will be to us. What with his helping to find a counter-spell and all.

And Xander? Where does he get off criticizing my taste in partners? He’s dating an ex-vengeance demon and being pursued by hundreds more. His demon-attracting magnetism is going to get us all killed. Maybe that’s not his fault, but still....

I felt kinda bad for Riley. I guess he thought we had something going there until he saw me looking at the wedding dresses. I’ll have to explain to him that I was just mad at Spike when I started seeing him. Now that we’re back together and engaged, obviously I won’t be dating anyone else.

Got to figure out how to get around this whole “no sunlight” deal. I’d always thought I’d get married outdoors in the sunshine, but I guess that’s out. Spike’s right. We’d be checking in for our honeymoon as Mrs. And Mrs. Big Pile of Dust. Can’t have that. I’m really looking forward to that honeymoon...

Whew, that is IF we can wait that long for...Oh, good. There he is, still here and waiting for me. I’m glad nobody sat in “our” chair. It feels so good to be cuddled on his lap; to have those strong arms around me; to feel him nibbling on my lip; licking my neck; breathing in my ear...

I wonder what the lump is poking me in the butt…oh! That’s what it is! Seems awfully big – I’m sure Angel never felt like that when I sat on his lap. I wonder if anyone would notice if I just slipped my hand down there to feel…Whoa!

(hee!) Made Spike jump. And groan. Need to shush him. I’ll tell him I’ll stop touching him if he doesn’t get quiet. Ha! That shut him up pretty fast. I guess he likes what I’m doing.

I wonder if Giles would mind if we left the room. He says he doesn’t want to hear us kissing. Maybe I should offer to go into another room. We could go in his bedroom…

Okaaay, then. Not a good idea to go to his bedroom. I had no idea Giles knew words like that! Maybe he’ll go into his bedroom. Since he can’t see, he might as well lie down. Think I’ll suggest that.

Oh, he liked that idea. Good night, Giles. Whoops! Ouch! Maybe I should help? I’ll bet that hurt, walking into the door like that. Let me go, Spike. I’m just going to help Giles into his room. I’ll be right back. Don’t go away.

See? I’m back. And you’re still glad to see me. I like the way it jumps in my hand when I squeeze it. And the look on his face. It’s pretty cool the way he bites his lip to keep from making noise. Such a nice lip. I think I’ll bite it too…

Now if we can just get rid of Anya and Xander…Oh, they’re going into the bathroom. Ha! They’ll be in there for a while. Now there’s nobody here except my fiancé and me.

I guess he noticed they were gone, those hands are getting…ooooo that feels good. I wonder what he…gah! Whoops, quiet, Buffy. Definitely don’t want to be interrupted just…yet…oh my god…what is he… what? How did he get my underwear off? I can’t believe I didn’t notice…oh, that’s nice, mmmmm, that just feels…feels…feels…like…oh my god…Spike!

Well, wasn’t that a revelation? Is he laughing at me? Bet he thinks he’s the first one to make me…well, ok, he is. But he doesn’t’ need to know that. Just act like it happens all the time, Buffy. No biggie. So he made me get a happy just with his thumb. It was probably an accident. Maybe he should try it again. I’ll bet I could ignore him….

Or, better yet, I’ll bet I can make him happy first…Just get this zipper down…oh…my…that is big…and…hard…and…okay, concentrate, Buffy. See how he scoots down in the chair and moans when you pull on it? Wonder what he’d do if I…hah! Guess he liked that!

I can do this. Just like licking an ice cream cone or a lollipop – except…bigger, and moving, and…whoa! Swallow, Buffy! Hurry, swallow faster!

Take that Spike. Now who’s all “look what I made you do, huh?”

Hey, mister! What do you think you’re…oh, forgot – no underwear. There’s nothing between him and my…oh, no, that thing won’t fit in there…well, okay, maybe if I just lower myself onto it a little bit at a time.

Stop groaning, Spike. This is going to take a while…in fact, it feels so good going in, it might just take a long ti-…oof! Okay, or we could just ram it in there. That works too.

I’m not sure how to do this. Angel just got on top of me and grunted away for a few minutes. It didn’t feel anything like this…this is really…quite…nice. When I move up and down, he moves too. Sets up some nice…friction…Willow would be proud of me. Good science word there. Friction. Friction is good. Like friction. More friction…more…friction…more…more…more…FRICTION!

Hmm, okay. There’s more than one way to get a happy. Good to know. And he’s still…love his face when he’s trying to control his demon. Pretty demon. It’s okay, you can come out and play. Just don’t get too close to my…oh, too late. He’s already licking my neck…feels kinda good. Sorta tingley, makes me want to…

I think I might be…again…Are those Spike’s fangs in my neck? Cause they sure don’t feel like…oooooh…who knew getting your blood sucked out of your body could feel so good? I think I’m going to…..oh yeah! Most definitely. Happy number 3…or is is 4? I think my brain is turning to mush.

I’m letting Spike suck on my blood while he sticks…other things…into other body parts. And it all just feels… I should be wigging out here. It’s one thing to be engaged…it’s something else entirely to let him…”Mine?” what the hell does he mean, “Mine”? I mean, yeah, okay, engaged to be married and all that, but “mine” sounds just a little possessive. Suppose I did that to him?

Two can play at this game, buster. Hmmm, he tastes pretty good, nice smooth skin, if I suck real hard…hah! Weren’t expecting that one, were you, vampire? You’re mine! And don’t you forget it.

This is nice. Just the two of us, resting together. He’s still inside me, that’s kinda cool. Makes me feel all…loved. Strong arms around me. Safe. Loved and safe. I could get used to this.

Whoops, Spike hears Xander and Anya coming out. Quick! Zip up your pants! Where’s my underwear? What do you mean, you don’t know? Okay, okay, skirt down. It’s not like anybody’s going to lift it up to see if I’m wearing underwear.

See, all good now. I know what you guys were doing in there. Not us though. Nope, just Spike and his fianceé, Buffy, cuddling in the big comfy chair. Old “wait for the wedding night” Buffy and gentleman Spike. Just cuddling, and kissing. Lots of kissing…kissing is good…got to be the best kisser on the planet.

Oh look, there’s Willow. She’s apologizing for something. I wonder what she did? Oh, that’s right. She put a spell on Xander and Giles. Good thing she didn’t do that to us. It might have…might have…no. No…this can’t be right. We’re… we’re engaged. We love each other. We…we’re the Slayer and a vampire…

Oh. My. God. It was a spell. And now it’s over. We’re not…we don’t…we can’t…why do I feel like crying? Why does Spike look so sad? Must get off the evil vampire’s lap before he throws me on the floor. Moving now. Getting away from evil vampire…must run to bathroom. Avoid looking at evil vampire. Just back away and leave the room…

I am not crying. It looks like I’m crying when I see my face in the mirror, but I’m not crying. There is nothing to cry about. It was a spell. It’s over. Not our fault. I don’t love him… He hates me… As it should be… Life can go back to normal now…Are those bite marks on my neck?

SPIKE POV

Don’t know what’s wrong with the stupid Scoobies. Even the watcher. Isn’t he supposed to be watchin’ things? Seems like he might’ve noticed how I’ve never been able to take my eyes off his Slayer. Couldn’t kill her. Came right here to her for help when I go out of that…place.

So, yeah, maybe askin’ her to marry me was a surprise to everybody. But bloody hell, they HAD to know how I felt about her. Can’t say I was sure how she felt about me. Never prayed so hard in my life as when I was waitin’ for her to answer me. Would’ve begged if I had to. But she did it. She said “Yes”. My Slayer said she’d marry me.

Guess the watcher can be forgiven for bein’ a tad upset. Must be hard to go blind all of a sudden like that. Got to be a spell. If I can help ‘im find a cure, that should ease his mind a little about his Slayer bein’ with me.

Soddin’ whelp. He’s shagging an ex-vengeance demon every chance he gets. Doesn’t need to be getting’ all high and mighty with Buffy about her choices. He’s jealous. I can smell it. She thinks he’s not, but he is. He wants her. My Slayer. Not gonna happen, whelp. Never givin’ her up.

So cute. The way she’s plannin’ this weddin’. Like we have choices about where and when. What with her bein’ the Slayer and me a vampire. In the middle of a meadow on a summer’s day jus’ isn’t in the cards. We could do moonlight, though. That might be nice. Have to mention it. Moonlight can be right pretty. And we could go right from the weddin’ to the honeymoon…

Wonder if she’s gonna make me wait till then? Jus’ looking at her makes me hard. I’ll be walking funny for the next 6 months if she tries to hold off till then. Don’t think she really wants to, though. Jus’ thinks she should say it.

Ah! Here she is. My own little heater. Sittin’ on my lap and cuddling with the Big Bad. She smells so good, tastes good too, got to have a little nibble of that ear. Can smell how she’s reactin’ to me. Know she can feel what she does to me….oh yeah, she feels it…

Holy shit! She’s really feelin’ it! Oh, Slayer. You don’ know what you’re doin’ to me…or maybe she does. Little minx, tellin’ me to be quiet or she’ll stop touchin’ me. I can do quiet…might put my teeth through m’lip to do it, but if it’ll make her keep that up, I can do it…

No way can I keep a straight face now. She actually asked the watcher if we could go into his bedroom! Thought the git was gonna have a heart attack on the spot. Based on the words comin’ out of his mouth, Ole Ripper must’ve led an interestin’ life before he settled down… Fuck! She talked him into going to bed! That’s my girl. Always on top of things.

Hey! Not on top of things anymore…come back, love. Oh, alright. She’s jus’ helpin’ the watcher to his room. Leaving me sitting here, my cock pushing against my zipper, getting all cold without her warm little ass covering it up.

Oh, good, she’s back. Ah, happy cock. Being petted with her hot little hands…What she’s doin’ to me…need to…bloody hell, she’s biting m’lip with her tiny little teeth. Wonder if she has any idea what that does to a vampire?

Got to love demon-girl. She’s draggin’ the whelp off to the bathroom for some noisy shaggin’. Good job, girl. You jus’ keep that interferrin’ git in there for a long time while I…

Smooth skin, so warm, so soft. I could run my hands over her body forever. Don’ know what I did right in my evil life that she would be wearin’ a skirt today instead of pants, but musta done somethin’ to make somebody up there happy. Can slide my hand right up that silky leg and into her warm, tight little…Damn, she’s wet. And ready for me. Love the way she moves under my hand, love those little noises, whimpers, come for me, love. Know you want to. Can hear it in those little gasping noises…come on, love…let it…Fuck! Who knew the Slayer would be so responsive?

So adorable. Trying to pretend that wasn’t new to her. Know the bloody poof didn’t worry about makin’ her come the one time he had her. All he cared about was getting his dinky little prick in her and losing his soddin’ soul. And no way a player like that Parker git knows how to please a woman. If he did, he wouldn’t be movin’ from one to the other like he does….

Wonder how soon I can make her come ag…bloody hell! She’s got me out and those hot little hands are making me…Bloody buggerin’ fuck! She licked me! Jus’ ran that hot little tongue up there like she…oh shit, oh fuck…Slayer, what are…no, stop, love, don’t …I can’t….aaaaaah!

That’s it. I love this woman. Love her with every undead cell of my body. And I’m not waiting for some fuckin’ honeymoon to show her how much. That’s it, love, let me in. Straddle me, pet. Jus’ spread those pretty knees and let me…god…you are so tight…so wet and hot, but so tight…you’re killin’ me here, love. Want to…too slow…I’ll teach you slow later…now I’ve got to feel you around me…now!

This is heaven. Know it is. Can’t be anythin’ else - feeling the Slayer all around me, breathin’ her scent, tasting her skin. Din’ take her long to figure out the best way to do this in a chair. She’s bouncing up and down on me like she…bloody hell…she came again. Knew she’d be a hot little number, but I had no idea…Got to keep the demon in. He wants her too. Wants to claim her…don’t want to scare her…my little Slayer. I’ll explain about claimin’ after we’re married..let her get used to the…now she’s just fuckin’ with me. Biting me, coaxing the demon out…she smells so good…tastes fuckin’ fantastic…just a little bite…what could it hurt…can make it good for her…that’s my baby. Come for me again, pay no attention to those fangs in your neck, you jus’ let yourself feel the love I’m sending you…Gonna make you mine…

I did it. Didn’t mean to, but I did. I claimed her. Claimed my mate. S’ok, I guess. We’re gonna be married anyway…she’s…what the hell? What does she think she’s doin—Jesus, she claimed me back! Oh god, love. You don’ know what you’re doin’ to me…Comin’ again, love. Come with me…come with me, Buffy…Make me….Buffy!

…This is nice. I could get used to this. Slayer sittin’ on me, all relaxed and cuddly. My limp cock still inside her warm body, her blood in my throat. Want to hold her and love her forever. Keep her safe. Never let her out of my…

Leave to the soddin’ whelp to interrupt a moment. Poor little Slayer, so afraid she’ll get caught with her panties off. That’s it, love. Jus’ pull that skirt down and they’ll never know what we’ve been doing. Not ‘less they can tell from the looks on our faces, anyway. Know I must look like I jus’ won the lottery…

What the fuck? Red jus’ popped into the room, all teary and apologizin’. Oh, she must be the one that mucked up the spell. Figures. Well, the watcher’ll be happier now. And demons’ll stop trying to beat down the door for the whelp. Guess Buffy and I can jus’ stay here in the comfy chair and watch the others get over being…no…no…not us…we weren’t…it was real! It HAS to be real! I can’t give her up…can’t go back to…

Bugger. It was a spell. Spell to make us think we were getting’ married. But why’d it make us want each other so bad? Why’d I think I was in love with the miserable bitch? Speakin’ of which…why hasn’t she jumped off my lap yet? Shouldn’t she be wipin’ her lips off and stakin’ me?

There she goes…runnin’ to the bathroom without so much as a “sorry, Spike”…prob’ly needs to take a shower. Get rid of the smell of a vampire on her delicate little parts…S’what I should do too. Wash the scent of her off my body. Never get the taste of her blood out of my mind…pure ambrosia it was…I…bloody hell. I claimed her! The Slayer! And she claimed me back!

Fuck.

Part II

Chapter One

Amidst the recriminations, apologies and general uproar that greeted Willow’s arrival and the subsequent breaking of the spell, no one noticed that Buffy had retreated to the bathroom and not come out; nor that the resident chipped vampire had stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Eventually, as Willow began a marathon “I’m sorry” cookie-baking session, and everyone had chocolate chip goodness in their mouths, Xander looked around and asked, “Hey, where’s the evil, undead, sooo-not-ever-going-to-be-a-bridegroom?”

“Who knows?” Anya said. “Maybe he went for a walk. You know, to clear his head after the spell?”

“Who cares?” said Buffy, shuddering. “He’s not here. That’s all I care about.”

“Right there with ya, Buffster. But shouldn’t we be keeping tabs on him?”

“He’s harmless. He can’t hurt anybody, and he has nowhere to go. He’ll be back,” she said quietly.

(He’ll be back, and I’ll have to face him. Sooner or later I’m going to have to talk to him, or look at him, or touch….no, no touching. There will be no touching of the evil vampire. Not that he’d want to. He probably ran out to get away from me. He’s probably just as repulsed as I am. And I am. Repulsed. Totally. Never mind the amazing kissing and the soft touches and the…no! Repulsed. Just as I should be.)

Giles cleared his throat and looked hard at the very subdued Slayer.

“I presume you would like to thank me now for turning down your generous offer to take Spike into the bedroom where your kissing noises would not disturb me? The Lord only knows what might have happened if you two had been left alone in that state.”

Before Anya could get the words out of her mouth, Xander and Buffy shushed her – putting a puzzled pout on her face and a frown on the watcher’s.

“You WERE never left alone, I hope?” He gave the ex-demon and her coughing boyfriend a threatening glare, while Buffy did her best imitation of a deer staring down a semi in the middle of the freeway.

“Well,” the boy began, “not alone, as such, no. Not for very long, anyway. I mean not long enough for any-“

“You irresponsible git! You left Buffy alone with William the Bloody while she was under a spell that had her thinking she was in love with him? What were you thinking?”

Anya refused to be shushed any longer and spoke up forcefully. “We were thinking that we wanted to have some orgasms and we didn’t want to do it in front of Spike and Buffy. Not that I don’t think we might be worth watching,” she added, with a nod in Buffy’s direction. “But Xander has this thing about privacy…”

“And, I repeat,” the watcher gritted out between his teeth, “you left Buffy alone with a vampire that has already killed two Slayers.”

Anya looked at the watcher as though he was a not very bright small child and explained slowly, “Spike was in love too. He wasn’t going to hurt Buffy. At worst, he might have given her an orgasm. Vampires can be very—mmmph!”

Xander’s hand over her mouth brought a merciful halt to her explanation. The resulting scuffle as the angry ex-demon removed his hand and berated him meant that they all missed the sudden scarlet color that flooded Buffy’s face. By the time any one was looking at her again, she had dropped her head and was studiously pretending to read a book.

“Well, I suppose there’s nothing to be done for it, now, “ the man grumbled. “Fortunately, she seems none the worse for the experience.”

He glanced over at Buffy, who gave him a weak smile and immediately dropped her head back to the book. She pretended to read a while longer, then gave it up with a sigh and got to her feet.

“I need to patrol,” she said, edging toward the door. “With that spell and everything, who knows what might have gone on while I was thinking about…about weddings and things. See you tomorrow!”

She whirled and bolted out the door, not dissimilarly from the way the vampire had before her. As soon as she was safely away from the apartment and the prying eyes of her friends and watcher, she slowed down and finally came to rest sitting on a bench near the campus of S.U.

Her fingers idly traced the scabbed over marks on her neck as she relived the events of the last few hours. Unwelcome memories of how solicitous Spike had been when her watcher went blind, how gentle and tender he’d been with her, how overjoyed when she’d said yes to his proposal and worst of all – how completely safe and cherished she’d felt when he held her, all battled with memories of the many times he’d tried to kill her and the times he’d threatened her friends.

Suddenly she doubled over as a sharp pain shot through her solar plexus and she felt a bolt of rage and…(was that fear?) go through her. As quickly as it came, the feelings were gone. Shut off as though a switch had been thrown. She leaped to her feet, sending her senses out in all directions, seeking the source of the sensations.

Buffy wasn’t stupid. Even given her usual lack of attention to Giles’ attempts to educate her about demons and vampires, she had picked up some knowledge of claiming rituals. She knew immediately whose those feelings they were, and she almost growled in frustration at the way he’d cut her off.

She found that the marks on her neck were tingling, and that she could increase or decrease the tingles by turning in different directions. She was soon running through the campus, twisting and turning as the tingles got stronger or weaker. When they had settled into a steady throb, she knew she was approaching Spike and whatever had caused the initial pain.

Slowing down, she moved toward a clump of bushes on the edge of the campus, edging cautiously toward the sounds of a struggle emanating from the other side of the clump. She peered through the leaves and gasped as she saw Spike surrounded by men in black uniforms and commando gear. Immediately she recognized that these must be the men that had captured and neutered the blond vampire.

She stood there for minutes, torn between her duty as the Slayer to rid the world of vampires, and the incredible feeling of rage that was flooding her body as Spike tried to defend himself without setting off the agony in his head that she knew would accompany any aggressive moves on his part. She briefly admired his ability to dodge and evade the many blows that the small group of men tried to land. His vampire speed and his own innate fighting skills allowed him to hold his own for several minutes.

Suddenly Buffy was on the ground, shaking uncontrollably. As she struggled back to her feet, she saw that one of the men had apparently gotten close enough to the vampire to hit him with a taser. The men were now kicking him as he lay on the ground, unconscious and bleeding. With Spike unable to block the claim, Buffy felt echoes of every blow and she staggered into the clearing, placing herself between Spike and the largest of the commandos.

“Is this a private party, or can I play?” she asked in a chirpy voice. There was something vaguely familiar about the man in front of her and she saw him flinch just a little when he saw her face.

(Interesting…apparently I know one of these guys. Definitely gonna have to explore that angle. After I get them away from Spike.)

She felt Spike stirring behind her and risked a quick glance to see if he was all right. To her surprise, he looked up at her and said, “Get out of here, Slayer.”

She shook her head, “no” and turned back to face the advancing soldiers, backing up to stand over Spike as she did. The man who seemed to know her held up his hand and the others stopped their advance.

“What the hell, Finn? It’s just one girl and she’s trying to protect a hostile. Just let me move her out of the…” His attempt to push Buffy to one side resulted in his body being propelled across the clearing and into a bush, from which he could be heard cursing and thrashing around.

When Spike’s voice whispered in her head saying, “Leave! Buffy. Now. Get out of here.” she was almost in motion before the impact of what he’d done hit her.

(Son of a bitch! He’s using the claim to order me around. I am sooo going to kick his butt!)

“If you don’t get out of here. Love, you won’t be kickin’ anything but plastic walls. You think they’re gonna let you go once they realize what you are? Leave me, dammit!”

Leaving the total wigginess of being able to talk to Spike without speaking aloud as something to worry about later, Buffy shook her head again and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Go pick on somebody who can fight back,” she said contemptuously. “This vampire belongs to me.”

At a signal from the leader, the remaining commandos jumped toward the Slayer all at once. Of the two coming at her from behind, Spike managed to trip one of them, causing only a minor headache, and Buffy flipped the other one over her shoulder and into the two advancing from the front. She followed up with a roundhouse kick to the chest of the man remaining on his feet, then turned to grab Spike’s hand and yank him to his feet.

“Can you run?”

“Yeah, Go. I’m right behind you.”

She threw a dubious look over her shoulder, but when she saw that he was, in fact, running easily behind her she increased her pace and they were soon off the campus and on the way to her watcher’s apartment. Buffy tried to ignore the fact that Spike was still clinging to the hand she’d used to pull him up. She told herself she was allowing him to hang on just so that she would know if he began to fall back.

As they approached the apartment complex, Spike slowed down, pulling on Buffy’s hand until she stopped and turned to face him. Now that the immediate danger was over, she remembered that she didn’t actually want to see the vampire again, let alone be standing in the dark with his hand still in hers. As he began to gently rub his thumb over her wrist, she moaned and tried to pull away.

“No, Spike. Stop that. You need to get out of sight.”

“So do you, love,” he said softly, moving into her personal space and never releasing her hand. “They know you’re something special now and they’ll be wantin’ to put you in that place and find out what makes you tick.”

(Damn. I don’t want to be this close to him. It’s too much like…what is he doing? Stop that!)

“Stop what, love? All I did was touch your face.”

“Stop touching me! There will be no touching of faces, or any other body parts….and…and get out of my head!”

“Alright, Slayer,” he surprised her by saying aloud. “But you’re gonna have to learn to stop projecting your thoughts if you don’t want me to know what they are.”

“I NEVER want you to know what they are, Spike! You and my thoughts? Very not mixy . What do I have to do to make this…thing…go away?”

She thought she saw a flash of pain go across his face, but he quickly masked it with his trademark smirk as he answered, “You mean the claim you put on me, pet?”

“You claimed me first!” she protested. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”

“I believe I thought I was making sure the world knew how much I love…loved…the woman I was going to marry. Didn’t mean to cause you any harm, pet. ‘S why my brain didn’t fry when I did it, I guess. I’m sorry,” he finished so softly she could barely hear him.

Buffy guiltily remembered how she’d been all over him at the time and how she’d unwittingly put her own claim on him. She looked away from his dejected face and played with the buttons on her shirt.

(This isn’t his fault. And it’s not mine, either. We were just caught up in Willow’s stupid spell and we acted the way two people who wanted to get married would have acted.)

“I’m sorry, too,” she muttered, still looking at her shirt and missing the look of surprise that crossed his face. “This wasn’t anybody’s fault…well, I mean, it was Willow’s fault, but not yours. Or mine. We couldn’t help what we…Oh god!”

Her eyes flew up to meet his puzzled expression.

“Spike! We had sex! Me. You. Us. The Slayer. A vampire. Oh my god. I had sex with William the Bloody. I let you…I touched your…I…Oh my god…”

“Easy, pet.” He stepped closer and unconsciously rubbed her arms soothingly. “You’re gonna hyperventilate on me.”

When she didn’t calm down, but continued to babble as her heart rate shot up and her breath came even faster, he cautiously exerted the claim and sent soothing feelings into her. He also used his touch to calm her, placing his arms loosely around her body and pulling her into his chest.

“Easy, love,” he murmured into her ear. “Easy, pet. It’s gonna be alright. I promise. No one’s ever gonna know. We can get Red to do a forgettin’ spell if you want. You don’t ever have to think about it again, if you don’t want to.”

When he felt her relax and lean into him, resting her head briefly on his chest, he sighed and rested his chin on the top of her head. Knowing it might well be his last chance, he inhaled the herbal scent of her silky hair and stored it away in his memory.

When she felt his arms around her, Buffy immediately calmed down, basking in the somehow still-familiar comfort. The soothing baritone voice crooning in her ear worked like magic to ease the panic to which she had almost succumbed.

She looked up at him and tentatively asked, “No one will know? Are you sure? How can I trust you?”

She winced when she felt the pain that shot through him – even though he smothered it immediately and never let it show on his face. He quickly adopted his usual snarky expression and said, “Hey, I’ve got no desire to get dusted over somethin’ I did because of a spell. You think I want your watcher or the whelp knowin’ we…especially now that I can’t defend m’self? And I’d be the laughin’ stock of the demon world if they knew I…if they knew I’d wanted to marry the Slayer. No worries, pet.”

Buffy suddenly realized she was being held in the very arms that she was so adamant she needed to forget, and she pushed herself away with a little gasp.

“What are we doing?” She felt the panic coming back into her voice, but she couldn’t help it. There had to be something very wrong with the way Spike’s arms felt so right.

“Nothin’, pet,” he soothed. “We’re not doing anythin’. Jus takin’ a little breather before we go inside. ‘S alright, love.”

“Stop doing that!”

“Stop doing what?”

“Stop calming me down! And stop calling me…love. It’s not…right. I’m the Slayer…not…not your love. That was just the spell. The spell that we are sooo going to forget!”

“Was it really all that bad, lo-Slayer?”

His hand gently traced her face and he didn’t try to hide what he was feeling. Buffy tried to ignore the sadness radiating from the vampire as he continued to stroke her cheek. She vigorously nodded her head, saying firmly, “Yes, of course it was. I mean there was kissing, and touching, and…then we…argh!”

(No, it wasn’t all that bad. It wasn’t bad at all. It was amazing, actually…But I’m the Slayer. I can’t--)

“What?!“ she demanded as the vampire regained his cocky look and moved closer to her, grinning at her indignant expression.

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

“Huh? Who thinks? What lady? What are you talking about?”

“You’re projectin’ again, love.” He lowered his mouth to brush his lips across hers, smothering her protest as he did so. “You won’t have any secrets from me if you don’t learn to control the claim. I’ll know every little…” kiss…”naughty”…nibble…”thought”…lick…”you”…kiss…”have”.

“No fair,” she moaned as his tongue licked her lower lip and she unconsciously brought her own tongue out to tangle with it.

“All’s fair in love ‘n war, pet. Know you musta heard that quote.”

“This isn’t either one, Spike!” she pushed feebly on his chest as she struggled to ignore the warmth in her lower abdomen created by his lips and tongue. “We’re not at war anymore. And we’re not in lo-“

With a growl, the vampire dropped every barrier he’d put up to protect her from the claim and let what he was feeling flow between them. When he heard her gasp, “Oh my god!” and saw her squeeze her eyes shut, he smothered the flow before she could sense how badly she’d hurt him with her reaction.

Dropping his arms from where they’d remained around her slight body, he stepped away, his posture rigid and his face closed.

“Right then. Guess we’d best be getting’ in and talkin’ to Red about that forgettin’ spell. Can’t have the Slayer walking around remembering how much she wanted the Big Bad now, can we?”

He whirled and moved toward the door, not seeing Buffy’s hand that had come up to reach for him when he finished speaking. It had been a reflex action on Buffy’s part. An instinctive need to soothe the pain her mate was feeling; but when he didn’t see it, she let her hand drop and moved slowly toward the door, trying desperately not to think to or about him.

Chapter Two

When the vampire threw open the door and stomped through the room to the kitchen, Giles paused in what he was doing to glare at his unwanted houseguest.

“If you’re going to think you can come and go at will around here, would you please try to demonstrate some manners?”

“Sod off,” was the snarled reply, as Spike went into the refrigerator for a packet of blood. He wanted the bruises and sore muscles left by the commando’s kicks to heal immediately. He wanted no reminders of this night at all, including the taste of the Slayer’s blood in his mouth. For once, he was grateful for the flat taste of the pig’s blood they’d been feeding him.

Buffy came in the door behind him, closing it gently before she shrugged off her jacket and sat on the couch. She carefully avoided looking at the scowling vampire as he brought his mug of blood back into the room and sat in the big chair.

The watcher looked back and forth between the two obviously unhappy young people and asked, “Did something happen while you were out there? Is there a reason you came back together?”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“Aha,” Xander said, slapping the table in front of him, “things are back to normal. Buffy and Spike can’t agree on anything and all is right with the world.” He leaned back and smirked at the glaring vampire. “I’m surprised you made it back here, evil undead. I would have thought Buffy would’ve put a stake through your heart for all that hands-on stuff that went on while you two were…”

“Shut up, Whelp.”

“Shut up, Xander.”

“I’m just saying… You two were all cozy, cuddling there in that chair. All that kissing and…whatever. It made ME sick. I can just imagine how Buffy must—“

The growl from the vampire was matched by the angry hiss from the Slayer and for once the not terribly bright young man got the message and bit back the rest of what he wanted to say.

“All right, sheesh, I get it. You don’t want to talk about it. Can’t say I blame you, Buffster, but I would have thought—“

“Xander!” Buffy yelled just as Spike leaped to his feet and crossed the room too quickly for human eyes to register his movement. Before he could follow through on his clearly headache-inducing intentions, Buffy stepped between them and put her hands on his chest. She could feel him trembling under her fingers as she gently pushed him away from the table.

“Please,” she said quietly, unconsciously rubbing her thumbs against his tee-shirt covered chest in a soothing fashion. She felt the anger burning inside and couldn’t help agreeing with him just a little. What they’d done together had felt completely right at the time, and if what Spike had revealed about his feelings for her was true, then she could easily understand his rage at hearing it treated so casually.

As she gently ran her hands out to rub his upper arms, she could feel him begin to calm down and when he gave her an abrupt nod and turned away, she breathed a sigh of relief. She watched him go back to the chair and sit down, glowering at the bewildered boy across the room.

“Buffy! You saw that! He tried to attack me. Why isn’t he dust?”

“Shut up, Xander,” she snapped at him. “I don’t want to hear another word from you about the spell or anything that might have happened while we were under it. Is that clear?”

“Well, sure, Buff. You don’t want to talk about it. I get that. It must have been…But if you just stake him, you won’t have to think about it anymore. None of us are going to blame you for what the spell made you do, but if he’s not around to remind you…”

“Leave Spike alone,” she said in her best Slayer voice. “All of you,” she added, casting a look around the room. “Just leave him alone.”

Her watcher’s eyes narrowed as he looked back and forth between the two powerful blonds in his living room. As upsetting as he’d found it to listen to them kissing and making plans for a life together while they were under the spell, he found it much more disquieting that they were not back to their usual snarking and arguing now that it was over. The fact that his slayer seemed to be protecting the chipped vampire was even more disturbing.

Although it was now well after midnight, everyone decided that they would head for their own homes and dorm rooms to try to get some sleep before beginning the day. Xander and Anya left first, the boy staying a safe distance from the chair holding the morose vampire. Buffy and Willow gathered up their things and told Giles “Good night”. As they walked toward the door, Willow hesitated as though she was going to say something to Spike, then shook herself and kept going.

Buffy couldn’t help taking a last look in the vampire’s direction, only to find him staring at her with an unreadable look on his face. She flushed when his “Sweet dreams, pet” echoed inside her head and before she could stop herself she thought “Good night, Spike”.

When the door had closed behind the two girls, Spike turned his gaze back to the room only to find the watcher staring at him intently. He reminded himself that Buffy’s watcher, tweed coats and spectacle polishing to the contrary, was neither stupid nor incapable of dealing with vampires by himself. He flashed back to when Angelus had killed the gypsy computer teacher and a grieving Giles had taken on the older vampire armed with nothing but a torch and a stake.

Spike forced himself to look harmless and uninteresting as he stood up and carried his empty cup to the kitchen. He started to drop it in the sink when a loud cough from the watcher made him sigh and rinse it out carefully before setting it to drain on the side. He returned to the living room, giving the watcher an irritated glare just to reinforce his position as unwilling guest.

To his surprise, the other Brit went to the cupboard and came back with two glasses and a bottle of good Scotch. He raised his eyebrow at the vampire in query, then, at Spike’s suspicious nod, poured them both a full two fingers of the expensive blend. When they were both seated and sipping from their glasses, he looked hard at the vampire and asked, “What happened tonight?”

For a minute, Spike panicked, sure that the watcher was referring to his claiming the Slayer and that he was graciously allowing him one last drink before he killed him. Then he realized that Giles had gone back to the original question he’d asked before they were all sidetracked by Xander’s jealous insistence that Buffy stake Spike.

Taking a long sip of the smooth liquor, Spike laid it out for the watcher.

“Ran into a bit of trouble with those wankers that did this to me.” He gestured toward his head and the still visible scar there. “Did alright until one of them got me with the soddin’ taser and I went down. Slayer showed up while they were using me for football practice.”

Giles frowned. “Buffy stepped in? That was very foolish of her.”

“Yeah. Tried to tell the silly bint that, but I don’t think she listens real well.”

“You have no idea how right you are,” her watcher murmured, waiting for the vampire to continue.

“Yeah, well, anyway, she’s tells ‘em to get lost, they try to manhandle her out of the way, and…you can probably guess the rest. We ran until we knew they weren’t followin’, then came back here.”

“Buffy fought humans?” Giles sounded more upset than he actually was. He was more than aware of how evil humans could be and had no real problems dealing with them, but it was unlike his Slayer to be willing to hurt them.

“Well, not so much fought as tossed ’em away from me. She only actually hit one of them. Big git, almost looked like he recognized her.”

“Did she know him?”

“Have to ask her that. They were all wearing masks and head covers – real ninja-type stuff. Would be hard to say what any of them looked like.”

“Would you be able to recognize any of them again?”

Spike didn’t bother to ask what the other man meant, he just responded thoughtfully, “Was tryin’ to keep my distance, so I didn’t get a real good chance to memorize anybody. Think I might be able to pick up on a couple of the scents though if I had a chance. Enough to know that I’d smelled it before, anyway.”

The Watcher nodded and continued to sip his drink. They drank in surprisingly companionable silence for some time before Spike cleared his throat and said, “Uh, Watcher?”

Giles raised his eyes, which had been focused on nothing as he digested what the vampire had told him.

“These…people. The ones that run that lab. I don’t think they’re all that fussy about what they label ‘demon’ and now that they’ve seen the Slayer in action…”

Giles sat up with a start. “Dear Lord! Do you think they will come after Buffy?”

Spike shrugged and finished off his scotch. “Jus’ sayin’. She’s not exactly your average co-ed, and now that they’ve seen how strong she is, I’m thinkin’ they’ll be wantin’ to take a closer look.”

“You could very well be right, Spike,” the watcher said, finishing his own drink and taking the empty glasses to the kitchen. “I will instruct Buffy to be careful until we can find out who and what these people are and what they are doing in Sunnydale.”

He turned his head to look at the subdued vampire. “I suppose it’s pointless to chain you back up now that you’ve had the freedom to come and go as you please.”

“Not goin’ anywhere, Watcher. Not till the Slayer tells me to. Then I’ll try to find someplace to lie low till those wankers get out of here. Or until I can make them fix whatever they did to m’ head.”

“Well, I’m going to bed. If you are going to keep vampire hours, please keep the telly turned down low.”

“No problem. Prob’ly gonna catch some kip myself. It’s been a tiring couple of days and I’m a bit knackered.”

Giles shot a look at the vampire, but his expression showed nothing but weariness as he threw himself down on the couch.

“Nighty-night, Rupert,” he drawled as he rolled over and put his face in the cushion.

“Good night, Spike,” he replied before he realized he was responding politely to a vampire. Shaking his head at the way Willow’s spell had changed them all, he went upstairs and shut himself up in his bedroom.

Below, Spike rolled back over as soon as the man left the room and lay on his back staring at the darkened ceiling. He relived every minute of the spell, beginning with his proposal and Buffy’s enthusiastic acceptance and all the way through to their short but intense moments of passion. He looked at the chair, trying to recapture the feeling of having his woman warm on his lap, the feel and smell of her as she wrapped herself around him.

He felt himself growing hard as he thought about their kissing and touching, and the way she’d innocently brought him off with her tongue like he was an adolescent boy. He groaned and unconsciously pictured her sucking on him, her golden hair spread across his bare abdomen and her head bobbing up and down in rhythm with his hips.

He unzipped his pants and allowed his aching erection to spring out and into his waiting hand. While he pulled on it vigorously, he imagined Buffy sitting astride him again, riding him hard, her head thrown back as she arched over him. Suddenly, he could feel her as she woke up, writhing with the sensations building in her body, the frantic movement as she tried to increase the pressure on her clit. He didn’t stop to think about how she would react to his being in her head while he was servicing himself, he just sent his thoughts out as he pulled even harder on his cock.

(Come for me, love. I know you can feel me. Want you so bad. Make yourself come for me, Buffy. I’m here, with you. Are you thinking about me, love? Can you feel how much I want you? How hard I am just thinkin’ about you? Come with me, Buffy. Let yourself feel me the way I’m feeling’ you.)

(Oh my god. Spike? Spike? What are you…oooooh….why am I…How is this happening? Why does it feel like you’re touching…mmmm…you have to stop…stop…don’t… stop…you’re making me…oh god, I think I’m going to…Gah!)

When he felt her find her release, he let himself explode in his hands, gasping her name as he spent himself. He lay still on the couch, taking unnecessary panting breaths as he let his thoughts go where they might. Suddenly, there was a tentative voice in his head.

“Spike? Can you hear me? Did we just… what just happened here? How did you…What the hell???”

He winced as her initial satiated bewilderment turned to outrage when the reality of what happened sank in.

“Sorry, pet. I didn’t realize I was projectin’. I was just thinkin’ about you while I…well, was just thinkin’ about you. That’s all. Didn’t know it could carry that far…or that you would…Didn’t know it would effect you like that till it was too late to stop.”

“Well, how the hell did you think it would effect me?. Suppose I hadn’t been alone? It’s just lucky that Willow went down the hall to the bathroom while I was sleeping. If she’d come back a few seconds sooner…Oh, this is sooo not good.”

“I thought it was pretty good, pet. Seemed to me like you were enjoying—“

Buffy could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Don’t even go there! You got into my head when I was sleeping and…and…”

There was silence for a full minute, silence that was permeated with anger and regret.