Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am home again
Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am whole again

Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am young again
Whenever I'm alone with you
You make me feel like I am fun again

However far away
I will always love you
However long I stay
I will always love you
Whatever words I say
I will always love you
-- The Cure, “Love Song”

*** *** ***

“I do like poetry. Professor Lillian’s class is actually my favorite this semester. It’s just… It’s Friday night.”

The other young woman in the dorm room repressed a grin at her roommate’s pitiful pout. Instead, she resolved herself to keep her stern expression, knowing her friend often needed a push when it came to putting her schoolwork above having fun. “I know, Buffy, but it’s only for a few hours. And when it’s over, we’ll go Bronzing, okay?” She let herself show a small smile. “Besides, extra credit – always of the good, right?”

Buffy sighed. Willow was right. Willow was usually right about these things. And she probably could use the extra credit, given the fact that she’d slept right through the last quiz they’d taken. “Fine, you win – but I’m not doing that reception thingy afterwards. I’ll sit through a poetry reading for extra credit, but I’m not spending my Friday night suffering through eating cheese and little sandwiches with a bunch of stuffy academic types.”

“Okay, no reception,” Willow agreed. “We’ll go straight from the reading to the Bronze.”

“Good.” Buffy picked up her purse and jacket from the edge of the bed. “And how long is this paper we have to write to actually get the extra credit supposed to be again?”

“Only two to five pages,” Willow replied. “And it’s just your thoughts on listening to the poetry being spoken aloud. It’s not like you’re going to have to be spending hours in the library.”

Buffy slipped her jacket on with a nod. She could do that. And it would negate that zero quiz grade she had. Granted, there were still the three other quiz grades, but if she studied hard enough for the final, she should still pass with at least a C. “All right. Let’s go then.”

The two girls walked out of the dormitory together, making the short trek to the lecture hall where the reading was being held. Buffy tried very hard not to sulk as they took their seats, especially when Willow insisted sitting right in the front row. She knew it was the redhead’s insidious scheme to keep her from dozing off or playing solitaire on her cell phone if this guy was totally boring – and one look at his name on the board outside the lecture hall made Buffy certain he would be.

William Pratt. Willow had told her the guy was British, and that coupled with his name brought up images of some old stogy guy in tweed with glasses. Maybe that was because the only British person she knew well wore tweed and glasses, but that wasn’t going to change her opinion. Instead, she leaned over and whispered to Willow, “What sort of name is William Pratt, anyway? Isn’t his last name, like, a British insult?”

“It’s spelled differently,” Willow whispered back. “And hey, that was Boris Karloff’s real name?”

“It was?”

“Yeah.”

Buffy shrugged and settled back into her seat. Now she was picturing the guy all green with bolts in his neck. And still wearing tweed. She giggled.

Willow turned towards her. “What?”

“Nothing,” Buffy replied, doubting Willow would appreciate the thought. She always went all uber-student at these sorts of things. Instead, she flopped back in her seat, forcing herself to keep still and not fidget. This was only supposed to last an hour. She could be still and pay attention for an hour. Even if it was Friday night and she really just wanted to be gyrating on a dance floor.

Buffy realized her mind had been wandering when a polite round of applause filled the lecture hall. She quickly joined in, only to stop suddenly, her hands hanging in mid-air, inches apart, when she saw the man approaching the podium.

There was no way he was William Pratt. That man was gorgeous. He had a slight but muscular build, with black jeans and a black t-shirt that looked positively painted on, allowing her to see every inch of his body. His light brown hair fell on his forehead in unruly curls, and his cheek bones were some of the sharpest, highest ones she’d ever seen on a man.

And his eyes… Suddenly, she was glad Willow had insisted they sit so close. From the back, she never would’ve been able to see his gorgeous blue eyes.

All she could manage to do was stare, her mouth gaping. If she’d been aware of anything other than the man standing only a few feet away, she might have noticed drool.

And then he did something that sealed her fate. He winked. At her.

There may have been people behind her, all around her, but Buffy knew without a doubt that wink was for her. Her heart fluttered in her chest as her pulse began to race. She could hardly remember the last time just looking at a man had this effect on her.

Until he started to speak, and it wasn’t his looks alone that had her mesmerized. His voice was full and rich, with the accent one no American co-ed could possibly resist. Buffy dropped her hands in her lap, fiddling with the strap of her purse as her eyes stayed locked on him. He thanked the crowd for coming, gave the short introductory spiel he normally did at these things, but Buffy was barely hearing the words. Instead, her eyes were locked on his mouth – the way his lips moved, the way his tongue periodically darted out to wet them. She’d never been so desperate in her life to find out what it was like to kiss someone.

Buffy didn’t start to pay attention to the actual words he was speaking until he started to read his poetry. His voice grew deeper, sensual, and the words he spoke seemed to wash over her, drawing her in until she was lost in them. She realized that while she had enjoyed reading poetry in the past, she wasn’t sure she ever would be able to again. The words lost so much simply sitting on the page. But when they were spoken…

She could feel the passion, the heartache, the yearning. He made it all seemed so raw, until it twisted in her gut. The rest of the lecture hall faded away, and for her it was only the two of them as she leaned forward in her seat, needing to be closer. He’d scan the crowd as he read, but his eyes kept coming back to her, locking with hers, and Buffy felt herself at a loss for breath.

The hour ended too quickly. As he stood and took a quick bow before giving the audience a short wave and leaving the stage, Buffy felt as if she’d just had something taken from her. She gasped, looking around wildly before she came to herself again, remembered where she was, and clapped with the rest of the audience.

“So, Bronze now?” Willow asked as the applause died down and they rose to their feet.

“Actually, um…” Buffy paused as she put her purse over her shoulder and draped her jacket over her arm. “I…um… I kinda wanted to stop by the reception thingy.”

Willow arched one eyebrow. “Sudden craving for cheese and tiny sandwiches?”

“No. It’s just…” Buffy blushed slightly. “He was really good. I…I want to say something to him.”

Suddenly, Willow got the picture and smirked. “You think he’s cute.”

“No!” Buffy sighed when she realized that wasn’t going to work at all. “Okay, maybe a little. But I do also think he’s a really good poet.”

“Buffy’s got a crush,” Willow said in a sing-song voice, snickering at the way it made her friend blush harder.

“Oh, shut it, you,” Buffy groused. “It’s not like I’m going to go in there and hit on him. I just… His poetry really moved me.”

Willow snickered. “I bet it did.”

Buffy smacked her roommate lightly on the arm. “Let’s just go to the reception, okay?”

Willow didn’t tease anymore, though she did sport a knowing smirk as they exited the lecture hall and walked down the hall towards the reception. Buffy would’ve protested a little more if Willow hadn’t been completely correct in her assessment.

As soon as they walked into the reception, Buffy spotted him. He was talking to one of the professors, nodding his head at whatever the man was saying, his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. Suddenly, Buffy wished she hadn’t come here at all. What could she possibly say to this man? Sure, he’d made eye contact with her when he was on the stage, but she was in the front row. And what if it hadn’t really all been directed at her? What if she’d just been so caught up in the moment that she’d imagined eye contact and The Wink?

He was an educated man who was probably a good bit older than her. Just because he was gorgeous didn’t mean he wouldn’t rather discuss Kant than pop music. The second she opened her mouth, he’d probably see her as some vapid, blonde California tart.

She turned and gripped Willow’s arm. “I changed my mind. Let’s go to the Bronze.”

“But I thought you wanted to…”

“It was a dumb idea,” Buffy said, cutting Willow off. “Let’s just go, okay? Please?”

Willow glanced between Buffy and William, but then decided to go along with her friend. “All right. Bronze it is.”

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief, though her heart clenched at the thought of just walking away from him. However, she knew that she’d probably get over whatever this was as soon as she was away from him. It was just her body’s reaction to being in the presence of an incredibly attractive male. It wasn’t like she was blowing a shot at actually hooking up with him, because the chances of that were non-existent anyway.

They’d almost made it out of the building when she heard heavy footsteps behind her moments before a strong hand gripped her arm.

Buffy turned, her eyes growing very wide as she found herself face to face with William Pratt. And he was touching her. His hand was on her. Oh, boy…

“You’re leaving already?” he asked, the naked disappointment in his voice telling Buffy that she did not actually imagine the massive amounts of eye contact from earlier.

Still, trying to talk with his hand on her arm wasn’t an easy task. “I was just… I mean, I…”

“I was leaving,” Willow said quickly, speaking up beside Buffy. “I have…someplace to be. But Buffy was totally staying. Weren’t you, Buffy?”

Buffy wasn’t sure if she wanted to smack Willow or give her a huge hug. “Um, yeah. I was staying.”

William smiled at her and let her arm go, though Buffy was sure she felt him stroke her there before he did. “Well, Buffy, I’m glad to hear that.”

Buffy didn’t think her name had ever sounded as good as it did when he said it.

“I’ll see you back at the dorm later,” Willow said softly to her friend before leaving them both with a small wave.

“Uh huh. Bye, Wills,” Buffy replied, though her focus wasn’t on Willow at all. It was on the man in front of her, inches away from her. Had she actually fallen asleep in the reading after all? Was she really still in the lecture hall, listening to some man who better fit the name Pratt drone on?

William thrust his hands in his pockets and tilted his head in a way that Buffy instantly decided was the most adorable thing she’d ever seen a man do. “I sort of have to stick around this thing for a bit, but when it’s over, do you want to go get a drink?”

“I’m only eighteen. I can’t drink,” Buffy blurted out before mentally kicking herself for being the biggest idiot in the world. Why had she said that? Since when was she this much of a moron around men? Now he was going to walk away, making up some lame excuse and…

“Coffee instead then?”

He smiled at her, and suddenly, she felt herself growing more at ease as she smiled back. “I could do coffee,” she replied.

“Good,” William replied, his smile growing. “I’ll make this as quick as I can. Personally, I’d much rather spend my evening with a beautiful woman than a bunch of stodgy types in tweed trying to kiss my arse.”

Buffy giggled, though she knew William wouldn’t completely get the joke. “I can wait.”

He winked at her again before going back into the reception.

As soon as he was gone, Buffy clutched the wall for support.

*** *** ***

Their coffee had gotten cold hours ago, but neither of the small table’s occupants seemed to care. She’d worried when she’d first walked into the reception that she wouldn’t have anything to talk to him about, but it appeared that nothing could be further from the truth.

William was smart, charming, and funny, and much to Buffy’s surprise, he treated her like she was, too. He leaned forward, interested in what she had to say, never telling her to shut up or belittling her opinions or ideas. It was an unusual feeling for her, and she could hardly believe that someone as intelligent as William clearly was would actually pay attention to her like this.

“You’re really eighteen?” he asked as their conversation hit a temporary lull.

Buffy blushed slightly at the question, wishing suddenly that she were a little older. “Yeah.”

“Damn. And American, too. How’d you end up with all that quick wit and insight?”

She thought about his question for a moment before she replied, “You know, I’m not sure if I was just complimented or insulted.”

William laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, luv. I don’t think I could bring myself to insult you.”

And how he could bring her from conversational to tongue tied in seconds, she had no idea.

He leaned back against the booth, his hands locked behind his head, and gave her a smirk that should have been arrogant, only she found it so damn attractive she couldn’t wish it wasn’t there. “Although you know, all this talking tonight, and we haven’t even touched the really important issue here.”

“Oh yeah, what would that be?”

“Me, of course.”

Buffy laughed then cocked an eyebrow. “You?”

“Yes.” He leaned forward, his hands folded on the table now. “What did you think of my poetry?”

Aside from the cocky way he’d posed the question, Buffy could see the insecurity in his eyes, as if it were important to him that she personally like his poetry. “It was…” Buffy paused, searching her vocabulary for something that could sum up what she’d felt when she’d listened to him back in the lecture hall. She realized there wasn’t one.

“It was amazing,” she said finally. “Like…like you’d taken emotions and poured them onto the page. In the third one you read, I could practically feel your heartache.” She blushed and looked down, remembering a discussion they’d had in her poetry class. “Or I guess the speaker’s heartache.”

“It was mine,” William told her softly, his voice almost inaudible from across the table.

Buffy’s hand shook, and she waited a moment before she finally got the nerve to reach across the table and lay it atop his. His hand felt warm and strong under hers, and Buffy could’ve sworn she felt a jolt pass through her. William stared at her hand for a moment before he finally looked up and met her eyes. She sucked in a breath, knowing from what she saw there that he was feeling the same thing she was feeling, and as he closed the distance between them across the table, she trembled with anticipation.

But the kiss never came. Instead, he pulled away abruptly. “I’m sorry,” he said, his whole body language changing. “I can’t do this. I thought I could, but I can’t.”

Buffy frowned, confused. Things had been going so well – better than they ever had before with a man she’d just met. She couldn’t understand what had brought this on so suddenly. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Is…is it me? Did…I do something, say something?”

“No. It’s not…” William sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m married.”

Buffy felt like someone had just pushed all the air out of her chest. “What?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be leading you on, I just saw you in the audience and… Bugger.” William stood up and put some money on the table to pay for the coffee. “I should go. I’m sorry, Buffy.”

Buffy stared at him as he left, too stunned to cry.

*** *** ***

Do I have readers for this one? Please review if you’re up for this one. Or not. Either one. Just review.

Buffy wondered why in the world she’d agreed to spend winter break in England. As far as she was concerned, California was cold enough. This was like Hell. Frozen, icy Hell.

However, one look at the man beside her reminded her exactly of why she’d agreed to do this. She watched him as he helped her take her luggage from the trunk of his car, then shut it. Buffy slung her bookbag over her shoulder and picked up her laptop case as he rolled her large suitcase behind him. She followed him down the walk to the small cottage he’d bought since the last time she’d visited.

“Didn’t like the flat anymore?”

“No,” he replied as he turned the key in the lock. “Too many memories.”

Buffy nodded, but didn’t press him to elaborate. She didn’t need to. She understood completely.

“Your bedroom is down the hall, second door to your left. There bathroom is across from it. I’m sorry we’ll have to share one.”

“That’s all right.” She looked up at him and smiled. “You know, Giles, just…just because she’s gone now doesn’t mean we aren’t family anymore.”

Giles smiled at her, though there was still that ever-present tinge of sadness in his eyes. Buffy couldn’t say that she blamed him – especially since it tended to linger in her eyes as well. Giles had only been married to her mother for a little over a year when she’d unexpectedly fallen ill and died; however, Buffy knew the man had loved her. And he’d given her mother some happiness at the end, something Buffy would be forever grateful for.

Which was exactly why she’d opted to spend Christmas here in England with him instead of in much, much warmer California.

With Joyce gone, all they really had was each other.

She followed Giles down to her bedroom, expecting to find a standard guest bedroom, surprised when he opened the door and she saw that it wasn’t. Instead, it was a re-creation of the room she’d had back home – with things she’d thought were either sold or stuffed somewhere in storage. Buffy felt tears forming in the corner of her eyes. “You…you gave me my own room here?”

Giles pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. “Yes, well…I figured anyone away at university should feel like they have a home waiting for them somewhere. And even if this is quite a ways away from California…”

Buffy threw her arms around him, making Giles’s words cut off with a surprised grunt. “Thank you. I haven’t really felt like I’ve had a home since…”

“I know.”

Giles pulled back from her and patted her shoulder. “You know, the day I married Joyce, I knew I wasn’t just getting a wife. I was getting a daughter, too. And she may be gone, but that doesn’t change who you are to me, Buffy. My door is always open to you, and I’ll never consider you anything but my daughter.”

Buffy felt a lump in her throat and didn’t know what to say. She’d worried when Giles had agreed to put her through college that he was simply doing it out of a sense of guilt or obligation, but she knew now that wasn’t the case. And it made her feel good.

Giles cleared his throat as he stepped back, then took off his glasses and proceeded to polish them with a handkerchief, and Buffy had to smile at the action. He always did that when the moment got too emotional for his Britishness, and it comforted her to see the familiar sight now.

“I’m not sure how you’ll feel about this, Buffy, since you only just got in and I’m sure you’ve got to be hit hard with jetlag, but a friend of mine is hosting his annual holiday party tonight. I told him my step-daughter would be in town, and you’re invited, of course, but you certainly don’t have to attend. And if you’d rather I stay home with you, I’m perfectly willing to do that as well.”

“Is this going to be one of those crusty British parties?” Buffy asked warily.

Giles chuckled. “Given the host, I doubt it. There’s absolutely nothing ‘crusty’ about Spike.”

Buffy’s jaw fell. “Giles? You have a friend named Spike?”

“Yes, I do,” Giles replied, clearly amused by Buffy’s shock. “And I’ll have you know that when I was your age, I was in a band.”

“Okay, now I know you’re messing with me.”

“I’m not. There are pictures.”

“Whoa. What happened?”

“Life,” Giles replied bemusedly.

“So is this Spike guy someone you knew back in your band days?” Buffy asked.

“No. He’s several years younger than I am. We met…” Giles trailed off. “Well, I think I’ll have to tell you that story someday when I’ve had a bit more to drink.”

Buffy gave him a bemused smile. “Giles, you wild man, you. Although now, I have to go to this party. Meet this ‘Spike.’ Maybe I can get him to tell me how you met.”

“You could certainly try,” Giles replied, this time his expression the teasing one. “Although considering the humiliation Spike suffered that night, it might prove rather difficult.”

“Challenge set then,” Buffy said with a small grin. “Although if I’m going to go with you tonight, I probably need to take a nap. I was up early this morning.” She paused and frowned. “Or maybe yesterday morning. I don’t even know anymore.”

“Of course. I’ll be down the hall in the study if you need anything at all.”

“Thank you, Giles,” Buffy said, giving the man one more hug before he left her alone in the bedroom.

Buffy took off her shoes before she climbed into the bed, smiling at the feel of a familiar mattress beneath her. Her last thought before she drifted off to sleep was that coming to England had definitely been a good decision.

*** *** ***

Buffy didn’t know where exactly she’d expected someone named Spike to live, but it certainly hadn’t been at a place like this. This place…

Well, she half expected Mr. Darcy to come running out at any moment.

“This is one of those British estates I’ve heard so much about?” Buffy asked with a small smile as Giles drove his car up the drive.

“Yes, it is.”

“So Spike’s loaded?”

Giles chuckled. “He’s the last member of a very powerful and influential family. Granted, he’d rather pull out his own teeth than admit that most of the time, but he held onto the estate. He spends most of his time in his flat in London, but he does come out here, as well.”

“I’d keep this place, too,” Buffy said as they pulled closer. “It’s gorgeous.”

“Perhaps sometime you can come visit me in the spring and I can convince Spike to let us see the gardens,” Giles suggested. “They’re not much more than snow this time of year.”

“I’d like that,” Buffy replied, hardly able to believe she was even going to be in a place like this. And there was something about this house especially. One glance and she’d fallen in love…

Giles brought the car around to the back of the house where they were immediately greeted with a valet. Once at the door, they met another servant, who took their coats and ushered them towards the party itself. All Buffy could do was gape, dumbfounded, and while she knew she probably looked like some very uncultured American, she didn’t care. She’d never seen a home like this in her life.

Which was why she was completely unaware of their host until he was standing right in front of them.

“Spike, I’d like to introduce you to my step-daughter…”

Before Giles could give her name, Buffy looked up, her jaw dropping as she realized whose home they were in. He gaped at her with a similar expression before gasping out, “Buffy?”

“William?”

Giles joined them with a shocked expression of his own. “You two know each other?”

“He…he gave a reading at my school,” Buffy explained. “Back in October.”

Spike scratched the back of his head as he shifted nervously. “We talked for a bit afterwards. Buffy’s…a real bright girl.”

Buffy had to keep herself from snorting at that. Ask her out for drinks, spend all night talking to her, then run off saying he had a wife, and he was going to call her a “real bright girl”?

“Well, this is certainly unexpected,” Giles commented.

“You’re telling me,” Buffy replied, giving Spike, or William, or whoever the hell he was the evil eye. In the weeks since the reading, she’d decided she didn’t like him. He may be attractive, sure, but men with wives who flirted with college girls and bought them coffee were jerks. Even if they did mention said wife and flee the scene before things got too heated. “Now how about I leave you two alone to catch up while I go have a drink.” She turned on her heel and headed towards the bar.

“Oh, balls,” Spike muttered and started after her, only to stop when Giles stepped in front of him.

“Seeing as that girl is the closest thing I have to a daughter, mind telling me what’s going on here?”

Spike sighed, peeking around the other man to make sure he didn’t lose sight of Buffy. “It wasn’t really anything, Rupert. She came to one of my readings, we had coffee, and that was it.”

Giles eyed him warily. “It doesn’t seem like that was…” He stopped in mid-sentence. “Wait, is she the one you’ve been talking about?”

“Yes. And now that I know you’re practically her father. Awkward.”

“Yes, just a tad,” Giles replied. He cleared his throat. “You should talk to her. At least tell her the truth, Will.”

“Yeah, I should,” Spike agreed. “Make sure no one starts dancing naked on the tables while I’m gone?”

Giles smiled. “I’ll be sure to ask them all to wait until you return.”

Spike clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Thanks, mate. I’ll be back.”

“I thought you were too young to drink,” Spike said as he approached Buffy, watching her as she sipped from the glass in her hand.

She turned around, glaring daggers at him. “That was in America. This is merry ol’ England. So where’s your wife?”

Spike sighed. Of course she wasn’t going to make this easy for him. “Hell if I know. I haven’t seen the woman in five years.”

“Huh?” Buffy asked, her brow wrinkling in confusion.

“Look, can we go talk somewhere else? There’s…there’s been things I’ve been regretting ever since we met, things I really wish I’d said, and now you’re here, and I’ve got a second chance, but…”

“It’s a little loud and crowded in here?”

Spike grinned softly as she finished his sentence for him, and Buffy felt the same warming in the pit of her stomach she had when she’d first met him. She took a quick drink, hoping she could make it go away.

“Yeah,” he said. “I won’t keep you away long, I promise.”

Buffy was so not going to do that. After all, the only thing worse than going out for coffee when you were already involved was pretending to be already involved so you could ditch your coffee date.

“Okay.”

Buffy kicked herself internally. Dammit…

“Follow me then,” Spike said as he started to walk off. Buffy set her drink back on the bar and followed.

He led her down a long hallway into a room that looked much more modern than the rest of what she’d seen. There was a television, a stereo, and a high-end laptop computer. “This is where I write when I’m here,” Spike explained. “I needed one room that didn’t look like a total throwback.”

Buffy eyed the huge wad of crumpled paper by the garbage can. “And I guess you managed that.”

“Look, Buffy, about what happened in California, I’m sorry. You just…well, you blindsided me.”

“I blindsided you?” Buffy asked, turning to face him head on, her hands planted on her hips. “You’re the one who chased me out of that reception and asked me out for coffee.”

“I know. It’s just I’d had my eye on you the entire time I was up at that podium. You were captivating. I…I’d never been that drawn to a stranger in the audience before. And then when I saw you leaving, I just reacted. I didn’t know what I wanted only that I didn’t want you to simply walk out of my life.”

“So you walked out of mine instead?” Buffy asked, accusatorily.

“I panicked,” Spike admitted. “When I saw you in the audience you were gorgeous, but then I talked to you and found out you were so much more than that. I hadn’t enjoyed talking to a woman that much in years, and I knew if I kissed you, well…”

“Well, what?” Buffy demanded when he grew silent.

“That it would be it. That I’d be head over bloody heels!” Spike yelled, the sudden rise in his voice making Buffy take a step back. “Bloody hell, Buffy, you’re a teenaged college student living half the sodding world away from me.”

“At least I’m in my late teens,” Buffy said meekly, knowing it was a pretty lame thing to say, given the situation. But here was the man she hadn’t been able to get off her mind for over a month, no matter how hard she’d tried, and he was telling her he didn’t even want to try with her?

Her admission made him pause, and he gave her a bittersweet smile as he said, “And I still haven’t been a teenager in fifteen years.”

“So? That still doesn’t mean you had to just ditch me and run off like you did. We still could’ve been… I don’t know, penpals or something?”

“Penpals?” Spike asked her in disbelief.

“Or something!” Buffy yelled, throwing her hands up.

Spike snorted. “Trust me, Buffy, the way you were making me feel that night, the last thing I wanted to be was your sodding penpal.”

“Obviously you didn’t want to be my anything!”

Spike thrust his finger at her. “That isn’t true. Didn’t you listen to anything I said? I wanted you. I still want you. You’re so bloody gorgeous, even when you’re yelling at me.” He shook his head. “No, especially when you’re yelling at me. You get all flushed and your breathing gets heavy, and… Oh, sod it.”

Buffy’s eyes bulged and she let out a surprised squeak when Spike grabbed her and kissed her, his mouth hard and unyielding against hers. However, she soon gave into the kiss, and Spike wrapped his arms around her as he opened his mouth, slipping his tongue into hers to explore.

The kiss made her feel lightheaded, and Buffy held onto him for support, one hand gripping his hip while the other tangled in his brown curls. He tasted even better than she’d imagined…

Finally, he broke away, resting his forehead on hers as he struggled to right his ragged breathing. Buffy kept holding on, trembling right along with him. He lifted his head up and kissed the crown of her hair, and Buffy smiled.

“I should’ve done that back in California.”

“Yeah, you should’ve,” Buffy agreed. “So there’s really not a wife around here somewhere?”

“No. Well, not around here anyway. I’m married on paper, but she’s long gone. I just panicked and used that as an excuse. I’m sorry.”

“So just to clarify so there’s no more confusion, you’re definitely single and available?”

“Yes. I am single and available.” Spike tucked a hair he’d mussed when they’d been kissing back behind Buffy’s ear. “So what does that mean for us then?”

“I don’t know,” Buffy admitted. She glanced up at him through hooded eyelids, somehow managing to look shy and sensual at the same time. “But maybe we could start by you kissing me again?”

Spike thought that was a good idea.

*** *** ***

Did anybody see that coming? Comments would be highly appreciated.

Giles shook his head, smiling slightly as he watched Buffy and Spike reemerge. They both looked considerably more rumpled than they had when they’d gone off together, and it was clear from looking at them where their conversation had gone.

He knew he should most likely be bothered by the idea of his friend and his step-daughter, but after losing two wives, he couldn’t seem to find it in him to wish loneliness on anyone – and Spike had certainly been lonely for too long. Furthermore, Buffy could do worse for herself, and Giles knew if nothing else, she’d have someone who was devoted and loyal.

Buffy and Spike parted ways as they entered the room, with Spike going around to greet the guests who had arrived since he’d gone off with Buffy, and Buffy returning to Giles. She blushed as she approached her step-father. “William and I were just…um…talking.”

Giles chuckled. “It’s quite all right, my dear. He’s a good man.”

“So you don’t mind if I…you know…like him?”

“No, I don’t mind if you ‘like him,’” Giles replied with an almost-teasing smile.

“Well, that’s good, because he asked me something, but I wanted to talk to you about it first, because I’m here to visit you, and I didn’t want to just take off, and I’m not really, because it’s only a weekend, but…”

“Buffy, slow down and just ask me what you want to ask me,” Giles said, unable to follow her rambling.

“Oh. Spike has some stuff he has to do in London this weekend, and he wanted me to come with him. But I didn’t want to just desert you either.”

“You wouldn’t be. Honestly, it’ll help me out, since I thought you would probably want to see London, but I could do without going into the city myself. I’m getting too old for it.”

Buffy laughed lightly. “So you really don’t mind?”

“No, not at all. Go and have a good time.”

Buffy hugged her step-father, taking the man completely by surprise. “Sorry,” she said as she pulled back. “I forgot we were surrounded by Britishness. I guess I’m not supposed to be all touchy-feely.”

Giles patted her shoulder. “It’s quite all right.” He glanced over Buffy’s head and caught Spike watching her, barely even pretending to be engaged in the conversation with the man beside him, and Giles shook his head. This certainly wasn’t what he’d expected to happen during Buffy’s visit, but he didn’t think it was exactly a bad thing. They did both seem rather taken with each other.

Buffy’s entire face lit up when she looked at him, and Giles realized the last time he’d seen her look like that, her mother was alive.

It didn’t take long until Spike was back with Giles and Buffy, though Giles quickly made up an excuse to leave, knowing that both of them would be unwilling to simply tell him they wanted more time alone.

“So what do you say we just ditch this place? Go find somewhere a little more exciting?” Spike asked her with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Buffy giggled. “It’s your party. You have to play host.”

Spike sighed dramatically. “Bugger.”

“We’ll have alone time later,” Buffy promised him, moving a little closer. “Lots of alone time,” she added in a whisper.

Spike grinned and closed what little space there was between them. “Just so we’re clear, you aren’t sleeping in the guest room at my London flat this weekend.”

“Does that mean I should wear my sexy panties?” Buffy teased, the look on her face making Spike wish he could drag her upstairs right then.

“God yes,” Spike replied, his words almost a moan. He leaned in and whispered against her ear, “I’ve thought about you every night since I left California. Wanted you so badly I ached.”

Buffy closed her eyes, her breath coming out in a shuddered puff as she imagined him alone in bed, stroking his cock as he thought of her. She didn’t think she’d ever wanted a man that badly in her life.

“I thought about you, too,” she admitted. “I…I didn’t want to. I wanted to be angry at you for how you left, but you’d creep into my thoughts anyway, and I couldn’t make you stay gone.”

Spike glanced around, noticing his guests were mingling with each other and not paying any attention to him and Buffy. He pulled her back into the hallway and kissed her thoroughly, making Buffy’s knees tremble.

When he broke away, he was grinning rakishly at her. “All right, I think I can get through this party now. Just try not to look too hot.” He winked, and Buffy giggled, feeling deliciously giddy. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this attracted to anyone – if she’d ever been this attracted to anyone. And to have a second chance with him…

It felt like fate.

Spike kissed her again, though this time, it was a gentle kiss to her forehead. Still, it was enough to make her toes curl. “I’ll come find you again in a little while,” he promised before stepping back into the crowd and resuming his host duties.

Unable to stop the dreamy little smile from appearing on her face, Buffy rejoined the party as well.

*** *** ***

He couldn’t take his eyes off her all night. She looked radiant in a green sweater and long, black skirt, her blonde hair falling in waves around her shoulders. She was most likely the youngest person in the room, and yet Spike watched as she charmed everyone she spoke to, keeping up with the conversations of people easily twice her age.

If the notion hadn’t been completely insane, he would’ve said he was in love.

From the moment he’d seen her, he’d been completely taken with her, the instant connection they’d made so strong it had frightened him. He’d thought he could walk away from her and whatever this was would go away, but apparently, the universe had other plans for him. Here she was, finding her way into his life a second time, and this time, he wasn’t going to run away.

And right now, he wasn’t going to spend anymore time pretending he wanted to be talking to anyone but her.

He approached her as she stood by the bar, sipping a martini. She locked her eyes with him from across the room, smirking before she lifted a toothpick-speared olive to her mouth, making a show of wrapping her tongue around it before she sucked it off.

Spike moved towards her a little faster.

Quickly scanning the room to make sure Giles was otherwise engaged, Spike set Buffy’s glass on the bar and took her by the hand, leading her back into his study. Immediately, he was on her, kissing her as he brought her over to the couch, guiding her to lie down with him on top of her.

Buffy giggled beneath him, feeling tipsy from both what she’d had to drink that night and the lust coursing through her. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t know,” Spike admitted as he moved from her lips to her neck, sucking the pulsepoint he found there. “Just had to be touching you.”

“Mmm…touching’s good,” Buffy agreed as she writhed beneath him, her hands running along his back and into his hair.

However, when his hand began to sneak up her skirt, Buffy quickly swatted it away. “Not that much touching.”

Spike lifted his head and looked at her with the most pitiful expression she’d ever seen. “Why not?”

“Because there’s tons of people not very far away,” Buffy pointed out. “Including my step-father.” She leaned up and pressed her lips to his ear. “And I bet you’re gonna make me scream.”

“Oh god, pet,” Spike groaned. “You’re killing me, baby.”

Buffy reached down between them, cupping her hand around the bulge in his pants before Spike had a chance to realize what she was doing. “Holy shit. You are sporting some serious wood, aren’t you?”

Spike moaned and thrust himself into her hand. “Buffy, please. It’s been…” He sighed and dipped his head to rest against hers. “It’s been too bloody long.”

Buffy pushed on his chest, and Spike sighed as he sat up. Despite the disappointment and the lust he couldn’t seem to push down, he knew she was probably right. Their first time together shouldn’t be wasted on a quick shag on a couch. “Yeah, I guess we should…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Buffy was walking towards the door. “Does this lock?”

“Huh?”

“The door, can I…” She stopped and Spike heard the lock click. “Oooh. Privacy.”

Spike stared at her, dumbfounded, wondering what was going on in her head as she walked back over to him and asked, “Do you mind if I take off my shirt? I don’t want to get anything on it. It wasn’t cheap.”

“Huh?” Spike asked again. For a man who made his life’s work from words, he sure was being eloquent tonight. Then, she dropped down to her knees in front of him, and all he could do was sputter.

“I think we should probably save the sex for London, ‘cause we won’t have to worry so much about interruption, but in the meantime, I can at least help you out with that erection. Blowjob or handjob?”

Spike stared down at her, trying to answer though all he could manage to do was open and close his mouth a couple of times and make a tiny, strangled noise that in no way resembled coherent English.

Buffy giggled. “I know, stupid question. Now let me see what you’ve got.”

She wasted no time opening his pants and pulling him into her hot little hands. “Oh, damn,” she said, her eyes growing wide at the first view of his cock. “That’s the biggest penis I’ve ever seen. I mean, not that I’ve seen that many, but yours is still really, really big. Wow…”

Spike groaned, unable to keep his hips from thrusting up. She was turning him on like no other woman ever had before. Even her babbling was incredibly hot.

But then when she leaned in and took him in her mouth… How he was able to keep himself from coming immediately, he’d never know. She kept one hand on the base of his shaft, the other wrapped around his balls, as she slid her mouth up and down with expert ease, her tongue swirling around him with each down stroke.

If he’d thought he’d been falling for her before…

He was a goner when she closed her eyes and moaned, as if she loved the feel of him in her mouth. The look of pure bliss on her face was too much for him, and he bit his lip to keep from screaming her name as he thrust up, deeper into her mouth, coming hard as her hand squeezed his balls, milking him for everything he had.

Finally, he collapsed against the couch, panting heavily. He could barely remember the last time he’d had a blowjob, never mind one that good. He decided not to dwell on where an eighteen year old would’ve picked up such an expert technique and decided to concentrate instead on how his entire body was still tingling.

Buffy slid his softened cock out of her mouth, giving it a few cleaning licks with her tongue before she tucked him back into his pants and zipped them up. “Better now?”

Spike lifted his head the best he could. “Physically, yes. Mentally? I’m a bit fried now, luv.”

The smirk on her face painted a clear picture of how proud of herself she was as she climbed up beside him on the couch and situated herself against his side. “You look all happy now,” she said as she ran her hand down his chest.

Spike turned his head towards her and lifted his eyebrow. “I just got sucked off by a hot blonde with perky tits. Of course I’m happy.”

She stuck her chest out a little more, showing it off with her shirt gone and her lace bra barely covering anything. “So you like ‘em?”

“Love them,” he assured her before hoisting her up by her hips and setting her down so she was straddling his lap. He kissed the top of both the creamy mounds peaking out from above the cups of her bra. “Fuck, I can’t wait to get inside you…”

Buffy trembled, the temptation to simply forget about what was going on down the hall very strong. But she knew now wasn’t the time or the place for this. They’d have their chance, once they were on their own and could really explore each other’s bodies. “This weekend, I promise,” she told him. “When we get to your flat, I’ll be yours to do with whatever you want.”

Spike’s eyes grew dark with lust and his voice dropped. “Oh, kitten, I’m going to take you places this weekend that you’ve never even imagined.” And somehow, he knew he was telling her the truth. Even with the experience she’d demonstrated just a few minutes ago, he knew he was going to rock her world.

Just like she would his.

Buffy panted, looking into his eyes, and he knew she knew, too.

*** *** ***

Reviews are like cookies for my muse.

Spike lay awake in his bed, staring up at the darkness above him. He and Buffy had agreed not to see each other until the weekend since she wanted to spend time with her step-father, and while he had understood that, the decision was killing him now. Having to sleep in such a large bed by himself seemed like cruel torture, and he wanted nothing more than to have her sleeping at his side.

The memory of her mouth still burned his cock, and he was more desperate to be inside of her than he had ever been with another woman. His need for her seemed to consume his every thought, threatening to drive him completely out of his mind. She’d also managed to succeed in something that no other woman ever had, even ones who had taken residence in his bed – she’d made him stop thinking about Drusilla.

Since his wife had left him, the specter of her had continued to haunt him as his emotions ran the gamut between longing and hatred. She had been what had driven away the only woman he’d developed any feelings for after Dru left, his inability to let go completely where his wife was concerned causing the majority of their arguments.

But now… Even if Dru were to walk through the door right now, he’d turn her away. His desire for Buffy was all-consuming, and while he didn’t know what it was that caused him to feel this way for a woman he barely knew, he didn’t care. He’d rather simply go with it than bother analyzing it.

The sound of his mobile phone cut through the silence of the bedroom, and Spike turned as he sat up to get it from the side table. He frowned when he saw Rupert’s name on the caller ID, wondering why he would be calling him at this hour, until he realized it wouldn’t be Rupert calling at all.

He opened the phone. “Hey, luv.”

“Hey yourself,” came the reply from the other end of the line. “You sound all husky. Did I wake you up?”

“No. Couldn’t sleep. What are you doing up so late?”

“Couldn’t sleep either. My body thinks it’s eight hours earlier, and no matter how many times I tell it it’s almost two in the morning, it won’t listen. Feel like talking for a bit?”

“Yeah, sure,” Spike replied, sitting up and resting against the headboard. “Anything in particular you want to talk about?”

“Not really. I just felt like hearing your voice. You could probably make my math textbook sound interesting.”

“So is that what you want to talk about then? Maybe the quadratic equation?”

Buffy snorted. “No.”

“Thank god, because about the only thing I remember from all of that is that there was something called the quadratic equation.”

“Dork,” Buffy said with a giggle. She cleared her throat, a moment of silence on the line before she said softly, “William?”

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“There…there is one thing I kind of wanted to ask you.”

“What’s that?”

“I…um…your wife? She’s…she’s not going to like suddenly come back or something, right? I mean, you’re really not together? I don’t want to… I don’t want to be making a move on someone else’s husband.”

Spike closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face. That hadn’t been the question he’d been expecting from her, and it wasn’t really one he wanted to talk about either. Despite feeling more attracted to her than he had any other woman since his wife, Dru leaving… It still hurt…

Still, he knew Buffy deserved an answer, especially since he’d been stupid enough to bring Drusilla up in the first place. If he hadn’t tried to use his absent wife as an excuse to keep himself from falling from an all-too-alluring eighteen year old, then he wouldn’t be having this conversation with her now at all.

Hell, he probably should’ve shagged her that night instead – he’d be a lot more comfortable now overall.

“She’s not coming back, Buffy.”

“Where did she go?” Buffy asked.

Spike sighed. “I don’t really want to talk about her.”

“I know, but…” Buffy paused for a moment, and Spike could here her breathing softly before she said, “I just want to know what I’m getting myself into here, okay?”

Spike thought about her request and decided that if he was going to ask her to share his bed, the least he could do was grant her that. She did have a right to know where she stood in this.

“Drusilla’s completely out of the picture. Even when she was around, she cheated on me constantly, and then, about five years ago, she took off with some bloke and I never heard from her again. Honestly, I don’t even know if she’s still alive.”

“Oh. Then…then why are you still married to her? I mean, if she left like that, can’t you get a divorce on the grounds of abandonment? Do they have that in England?”

“Yeah, I guess I could. It’s just…” Spike sighed, almost telling her he didn’t want to talk about it again, but found instead that he sort of wanted to open up to her about this, even if the wounds were still raw after all these years. Maybe it was the late hour or the fact he could say it without looking her in the face, but it seemed easier now.

“A mix of reasons, I guess. She hurt me real bad when she left, you know? And for a while, I used her as a shield to keep myself from getting hurt again. Like I did with you back in California, only more so. Couldn’t get too close to someone if I was already married… But then even after that started fading, I was afraid to actually make the move. If I started the proceedings, it would be like digging everything up again, and I wasn’t sure I’d like what I found. I could learn things about her I didn’t want to hear, or it might entice her to come back around, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that either. So I just…left things like they were.”

“But what if you wanted to, you know, marry someone else?” Buffy asked.

“Why, you proposing?” Spike teased, wanting to prod Buffy back out of unfamiliar territory.

Buffy snorted. “You wish, buddy.”

“Oi now!”

“You really are a dork,” Buffy told him with a giggle. “But anyway, I don’t know why you’d let that fester for so long. I mean, maybe the reason you still do things like blurt out ‘I’m married’ when you could be macking on a total hottie is because you’ve let the wound stay open instead of getting closure.”

“Getting…” Spike stopped short, then asked, “Buffy, what’s your major?”

“Psychology.”

“Bloody figures,” Spike thought. “Luv, you think maybe you could not psychoanalyze me?”

“But you’d be a fascinating case study.”

Spike could hear the amusement in her voice. “Ha bloody ha. You’re just still irked at me for leaving you in the coffee shop.”

“Only I wouldn’t say ‘irked,’” Buffy replied. “You’re lucky you’re such a fine looking man, or I totally wouldn’t have given you the time of day at that party after that one.”

“Wouldn’t have given me the time of day or head?”

“You’re not funny.”

“Yeah, well, neither are you.”

“I’m freaking hilarious,” Buffy replied. “And pretty. And smart. And awesome in the sack.”

“Well, aren’t I a lucky bloke then?” Spike said, smiling. He’d just opened himself up to her, and yet he still felt completely relaxed, as if they were talking about something a lot less difficult for him. This woman still hadn’t stopped amazing him.

“You’ll be luckier this weekend.”

Spike trembled just thinking about it. He was tempted to try to entice her into a little play right then, but then he remembered how small Rupert’s place was and didn’t think that was the best of ideas. Instead, he decided to try to turn the tables on her. “So what about you then?”

“What about me?”

“You made me admit some painful relationship history. I think it’s only fair you do, too.”

“I don’t think it works that way.”

“Oh, I think it does.”

Buffy sighed. “Fine. My high school sweetheart dumped me on graduation day.”

“That’s all you’ve got?” Spike asked.

“Hey! That was like…six months ago. And I was in love with him, so yeah, it hurt. A lot.”

Spike grimaced at that. “Sorry, luv. I forgot you were in high school...” He coughed before he finished with, “Six months ago.”

“We’d been together for two years, and he told me we were going to go to the same college and everything. And then completely out of the blue, he told me that he was actually going somewhere else, and to not even bother trying to call him because he’d hooked up with someone else already.”

“What a sodding git!” Spike exclaimed, though he knew it was really an understatement. What sort of man would be enough of an idiot to toss a woman like Buffy to the side so callously?

“He said I hadn’t been ‘there’ enough for him recently.” Her voice got smaller on the other end of the line and her next words were almost too soft for him to hear. “It was two months after my mom died.”

“Oh, kitten. I’m sorry…”

“Well, if he hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now,” Buffy pointed out.

“Yeah, I guess not.”

“And…I like this conversation.”

Spike smiled to himself. “Yeah, me, too.”

What surprised him most was that it was the truth.

*** *** ***

Buffy stepped into the kitchen, rubbing her tired eyes. Giles watched her from the stove with a small smile and shook his head. “Good afternoon, Buffy.”

Buffy frowned. “Afternoon? Really?”

“Yes. Still adjusting to the time difference?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Buffy replied with a yawn.

“Or it could be that you were up all night on the phone,” Giles said, barely repressing his smirk.

“Did I keep you up?” Buffy asked, her eyes wide. “I’m so sorry, Giles. I tried to be quiet, I…”

“No, you didn’t keep me up, dear,” Giles told her. “I simply went looking for the phone this morning and found it in your outstretched hand on the bed.”

“Oops,” Buffy said, blushing.

“I assume it was Spike.”

“Yeah. Is…is that okay?”

“Is there a reason why it wouldn’t be?”

“I don’t know. It’s just…well, I’m like your daughter, and he’s your friend. I keep worrying that you’re really more squicked about this than you’re letting on.”

Giles turned for a moment from the pot on the stove and put his hand on Buffy’s shoulder. “You’re both adults, Buffy. What you chose to do in your personal life is really none of my business. I don’t particularly wish to give a lot of thought to it, but I’m not going to bothered simply by the fact you seem to have started something either. William is a good man, and he’s obviously quite taken with you – as you are with him. It’s all right. You don’t have to worry about my disapproval.” He took his hand from her shoulders and adjusted his glasses. “I was actually going to ask you if you wanted to ask him to spend the holiday with us.”

“Really? You…you wouldn’t mind?”

“Not at all. From what I gathered, he was planning on spending the day by himself. I’m sure he’d much rather spend it with you.”

“Thank you, Giles,” Buffy said, her bright smile beaming. “I’ll talk to him about it this weekend.”

“Good.” Giles nodded towards the pot. “Soup?”

“No thanks,” Buffy replied shaking her head. “My belly still thinks it’s morning. I’m going to make some toast.”

“Do you need any help?”

Buffy put her hands on her hips. “You know, Giles, I may be blonde, but I think I can still manage to handle toast.”

Giles chuckled. “All right then. Just let me know if it gets to be too much for you.”

Buffy’s tongue peeked out of her mouth before she turned and walked towards the breadbox, leaving her step-father shaking his head.

*** *** ***

Reviews would make my day.

So far, Buffy had been enjoying London.

All except for the part that Spike had been in meetings all day and she had been stuck wandering around on her own. But she’d known that was going to be the case to begin with, and Spike had set her up with a map, a list of places to go, and a time and place to meet him when he was done.

So now all she had to do was wait, and while she knew he wasn’t late, she was feeling impatient. She felt edgy when she wasn’t around him, a feeling she hoped she could work out of her system by spending a little more time with him.

Sure enough, the feeling melted away the moment she saw him approaching her. A wide grin broke out across her face and immediately, and he was smiling back. The moment he was in touching distance, his arms were around her, his lips on hers, and Buffy sighed happily, instantly in a better mood simply from being near him.

“God, those meetings were hell,” Spike said, still holding her in his arms. “I finally get you all to myself and I had to leave so I could spend all day being business-like. So bloody unfair.”

“At least it’s over now,” Buffy replied. “Now we’ve got the whole evening to be together.”

Spike moved back from her, though he still kept her hands in his. “Did you want to stay out for a bit, pet? Maybe go get something to eat?” Truth be told, he wanted nothing more than to bring her back to his flat and finally have what he’d been aching for every cold, lonely night since October, but he didn’t want her to think she was nothing more than sex to him either.

“Do you have delivery in England?” Buffy asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then we’ll eat later,” she said, a vixen-smile on her face.

Spike responded with a leer, her answer exactly what he wanted to hear.

*** *** ***

The second the door to his flat was closed and locked, Spike found himself with an armful of Buffy. Her legs were around his hips, her mouth fastened tight to his, and he held on to her, stumbling back towards the bedroom.

They didn’t make it. Instead, they collapsed in a heap in the middle of his living room.

Neither of them seemed to care.

Instead, they tugged at each other’s clothes, a single unifying desire for more skin driving them until they were both undressed, hands and lips free now to explore bare skin.

Buffy moaned as his fingers delved between her legs and his mouth found her breast, firm strokes of her clit timed with gentle tugs at her nipple. Her hands moved against his skin, wanting to learn every inch of him.

It was the most intense sexual experience of her life, her desire for this man driving her body’s responses into overload. Her sudden orgasm took her completely by surprise, and Buffy cried out in shock as her body shook.

Spike looked at her as she came down, his eyebrow arched. “Already?”

Buffy panted. “Yeah, I didn’t see that coming either.” She winced. “Please ignore any bad puns I make while brainfried.”

“Will do, gorgeous,” Spike said, chuckling as he kissed the tip of her nose. He looked down at her again with a self-satisfied smirk. “Guess you must’ve really wanted me.”

Buffy smacked his arm weakly. “Don’t look so pleased with yourself.”

“Why not? I got you off in all of a minute.”

Buffy’s brow wrinkled as she thought about it. “Okay, I take it back. Look pleased with yourself.”

“Bet I can make you come harder,” Spike said, his eyebrows waggling. Before Buffy could ask him what he planned to do, he’d moved down her body and hoisted her legs over his shoulders. Two of his long fingers pushed inside of her as his tongue found her clit without error, and he pulled it into his mouth, sucking hard.

Buffy’s eyes widened, her body bucking up towards his mouth. She was sensitized from the orgasm she’d just had, and the dual stimulation of his fingers and his tongue felt unbelievably intense. She keened, her hands scraping at the carpet beneath them, her hips lifting up towards his mouth.

Then, he switched, his fingers on her clit and his tongue deep inside her pussy, moving in ways she wouldn’t have even thought were possible before meeting him. She gasped, finding it hard to breathe before she was coming again, this time letting out a loud, practically inhuman yell.

Spike surged up her body, his eyes dark with lust and promise. He was looming above her on his knees, her legs still hooked over his shoulders, spreading her wide open for him. “Do I need…”

Somehow, her brain managed to make sense of his question. “Pill.”

“Right then,” he said before lining his cock up with her entrance and pushing his way in.

“Oh, God!” Buffy screamed, feeling impossibly full. She bucked her hips, wanting him to move inside of her, but he put his hand against her stomach to still her.

“Shh, kitten… Let me work it all the way in, yeah?”

Buffy looked up at him in wide-eyed disbelief. “That’s not… You’re not… Holy shit.”

“Got about three more inches to go, luv. Let me take it slow for a bit, so I don’t hurt you.”

Three more… And she was already more full than she remembered being before. Gah…

He was moving with short, shallow strokes, turning his hips as he did to widen her, slowly working his way up to the hilt. Buffy lay beneath him, breathing heavily. Almost all the way in, Spike ran his hand across her sweat-dotted brow. “Too much, sweetheart?”

Buffy shook her head, biting her bottom lip. Spike shifted his hips again, and this time, she pitched hers up. He slid in all the way then, and they moaned together, the sensation mutually intense. Spike leaned forward, dropping onto his open palms. “God, you’re tight,” he groaned, feeling her muscles working around him.

“I haven’t done this much,” she admitted, breathing hard and giving him a tantalizing view of her breasts. “Not…not this far anyway. My ex and I we usually did, y’know, other stuff.”

Spike nodded his understanding, knowing that must be why she’d seemed much more confident when she’d given him a blowjob than she did now. It was yet another reminder of the years between them, but he shook it off, telling himself that the body beneath him was very much a woman’s.

“It’s all right, kitten. Just tell me if something doesn’t feel right, yeah?”

“I will,” Buffy replied with a nod. “But right now could you just, y’know…start thrusting?”

Spike grinned rakishly at her before he began to do just that. Every stab of his cock deep inside of her brought another sound from Buffy’s lips, from moans, to grunts, to high-pitched yelps. Her eyes were closed, her face flush with exertion, and Spike didn’t think he’d ever seen anything so alluring in his life. Experienced or not, she was clearly loving this.

He leaned down further, bending her nearly in half as he pressed his lips against her ear. “Fuck, Buffy, you’re so hot… You know that, sweetheart? Like a lil’ inferno you are, burning me up. Feels so good… Makes me want to spend the rest of my life buried in your cunt.”

“Unhh…yes, William…” she moaned in response, her body bucking unevenly. “Don’t…don’t stop…don’t stop talking.”

Spike smiled at her request. “Like my voice, kitten? Like me telling you how sexy you are, how much I want you? You drive me crazy, make it so all I can think about is how much I need you. God, Buffy…”

It was the low, husky moan of her name that set her off again. Her mouth fell open, her orgasmic cry slowly rising in volume as she shook and bucked beneath him, strangling his cock and wrenching a stream of curses from him.

It felt too good, and Spike felt the last of his control slip a moment before he hoisted her up, dragging her over to the couch so her back was against the seat, her legs still wrapped around him. All practiced restrained left him as he began to fuck her in earnest, pushing in hard with every thrust. Buffy clung to the edge of the couch, panting as she felt yet another orgasm rising in time with Spike’s own impending release.

He roared when he came, the sound unlike anything Buffy had ever heard a man make before. It shook her, and she bucked hard, falling over yet again, with him this time.

Boneless and spent, she slid off the couch and onto Spike, his arms trembling as he fought to hold on to her.

“Oh,” Buffy said finally, still breathing heavily.

Spike chuckled, his lips pressed against her hair. “That’s all you can say? Oh?”

“I… Yeah…oh.”

With a great amount of willpower, Spike stood up, and tossed her over his shoulder. Buffy yelped, but felt like no more than deadweight in the caveman-hold.

She might have complained, had she been able to walk on her own. She wasn’t, so this suited her just fine. Especially when he dumped her onto his bed.

“Mmm…bed soft,” she said as she stretched out on the sheets. Then, she giggled. “And Spike hard.”

Spike shook his head and chuckled as he climbed into the bed beside her. “Your brain isn’t working too well, is it, pet?”

“Nope,” Buffy replied, the ‘p’ making a popping sound.

Spike smiled as he ran his hand down her sweat-sheened body. “So it wouldn’t be too cocky of me to assume you’ve never had it so good?”

Buffy giggled. “Cocky. Yeah, you’re that.” Spike chuckled again, then guided her up so he could pull the blankets around them, the room feeling colder now that their bodies were starting to cool. Buffy hummed in contentment as she rolled into his arms, burying her head at the crook of his neck as she snuggled down under the covers.

She had a smile plastered to her face, and Spike couldn’t help but smile as well, feeling both physically satisfied and very pleased with himself. Even knowing she hadn’t had a lot in the way of complete sexual experiences, there was something very ego-affirming about knowing he had been the best of her life.

And she certainly hadn’t been a let down for him either. Nothing got him off harder than watching a woman genuinely enjoying herself the way Buffy had been. “You were so incredible, Buffy,” he told her, his voice reverent as he stroked her long, blonde hair.

She looked up at him. “I was?” Her nose wrinkled in a way Spike found utterly adorable. “I sorta felt like I just laid there and made funny noises.”

Her response made him laugh. “No, you were good. You were so…into it. Made me feel all manly.”

“Mmm…you’re definitely ‘manly,’” Buffy said as her hand snaked down under the covers to grip his cock. Spike groaned as she started stroking him, growing hard again quickly, much to his surprise. It had been quite a few years since he’d had a recovery rate like that.

Must’ve been the effect of wanting a woman the way he wanted Buffy…

“Can I be on top this time?” Buffy asked with a nip to his shoulder.

“I’m certainly not going to try to stop you,” Spike replied, his cock hardening further at the thought of her riding him.

“Goody,” Buffy said with a quick kiss to his cheek before pushing him over onto his back and straddling his hips.

She gripped his cock tightly at the base, then lowered herself down, pulling him in all the way. Spike groaned loudly, fighting the urge to thrust his hips up hard, telling himself that Buffy needed a moment to adjust to the new position. “You all right, pet?” he asked through labored breaths.

“Yeah, I’m just…” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m good.”

Spike winked. “No arguments from me there.”

She giggled before growing serious again, concentrating on the task at hand. She moved on him, experimentally at first, until she found her angle and began to bounce up and down, slipping off his cock only to draw him right back in.

Spike moaned, cupping her ass in his hands, gently guiding her movements. She looked gorgeous atop of him, her golden body toned and her hair flowing behind her. “Play with your tits, luv,” he said, his voice ragged and heavy with lust.

Buffy opened her eyes and met his with a smile before she ran her hands slowly up her sides to her breasts, cupping them in her hands and pressing them together. Spike panted, his gaze zeroing in on the pert mounds. Buffy ran her thumbs over her nipples and moaned softly.

“That feel good?” Spike prodded her, wanting to hear her voice.

“Mmm…yeah,” she said, her voice throaty, just like Spike had wanted. She pinched each of her nipples between her thumbs and forefingers, rolling the buds beneath her fingertips. “Feels really good…”

“Move one hand down and finger yourself,” Spike said between gasps.

She didn’t break his gaze as she brought one finger to her mouth, rolling it between her lips before bringing it down to her clit, rubbing against where his cock slid in and out of her. Spike shook, fighting off the orgasm that threatened to shoot through him at her display. She was trembling, obviously close to what would already be her fifth orgasm of the night, and Spike wanted to feel her come around him again before he let himself go.

Slowly, he slid one of his hands between the crack of her ass, rubbing softly against the hole before he slid a finger in up to the first knuckle. Buffy’s eyes opened impossibly wide, another loud yell erupting from her right before she clenched around him, bucking wildly.

He let himself go then, his hips coming off the bed as he pushed hard into her, making her scream yet again.

Buffy collapsed against him, panting hard. “Okay…you know you should really warn a girl before you stick anything up her ass, right?”

Spike laughed hard, the vibrations of it shaking her body. “No, see, the surprise is half the fun, luv.” He kissed her head. “I’ll warn you before it’s my cock.”

Buffy lifted her head, looking at him in shock, and Spike laughed again. “You’re not doing that,” Buffy insisted.

“Yes, I am.”

“No way.”

Spike flipped her over, his expression one of pure sexual promise. “Oh, I will, baby. I’m going to do all sorts of naughty things to that body of yours.” He leaned in and whispered against her ear, “And you’re going to love every single one.”

A tremble ran through Buffy’s body, and she knew he was right.

Buffy woke up right before her orgasm hit her. She bucked her hips off the bed against Spike’s rapidly fluttering tongue, her hands fisting the sheets. Spike gave her a few more gentle licks before sliding up her body and smirking down at her. “Good morning, kitten.”

Buffy panted heavily, her whole body feeling tingly. “Definitely a good morning,” she said. “Damn, you know just how to wake a girl up.”

“I’ve found it’s usually the most effect way,” Spike teased. “Now put your legs around my waist.”

That was a request Buffy had no desire to argue with. She complied quickly, allowing Spike to slide inside of her and immediately set a steady rhythm. There was none of the practiced skill this time, only raw need. He grunted with every thrust, his eyes shut tight and his breathing heavy. Buffy held onto him tightly with both her arms and her legs, her head thrown back and her mouth opened in a wordless cry of pleasure.

Spike groaned and shot into her body, and the feel of him jerking inside of her pushed Buffy over the edge as well. She was panting when she came down and her legs slipped to the mattress. “Okay, now that’s the best way to wake up,” she said, running a hand through his soft brown hair. “My alarm is never going to do the trick ever again.”

“Yeah, that pretty much ruined me for all other wake-up calls, too,” Spike replied, nuzzling her neck with his nose. Then, he sighed and rolled off of her. “Although regretfully, we actually have to get out of bed. I need to take you shopping.”

“Shopping?” Buffy asked, her brow wrinkled. “Why do you need to take me shopping?”

“I’ve got some posh thing to go tonight and I need arm candy.”

Buffy chuckled. “Okay. I guess I can be arm candy.” She snaked her hand down his back and cupped his bottom with her hand. “But you better make it up to me later.”

“Oh, pet, I will have no problem making it up to you,” Spike replied, his voice dropping to a husky purr. “Over and over again.”

Memories of the night before ran through her mind, and Buffy knew he’d have no problem keeping that promise.

*** *** ***

Buffy knew the moment they approached the front door that she was way out of her element. Granted, the price tag on the dress Spike had bought for her had been a clue as well, but this…

These people had some serious cash.

She trembled as they walked into an opulent ballroom, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. She stopped a second before she smoothed the dark green fabric of her gown, realizing with her palms sweating the way they were at the moment she’d end up staining it.

“It’s all right, pet,” Spike whispered, his hand resting against the small of her back. “There’s no reason to let these people intimidate you. Most of them are wankers anyway.”

Buffy chuckled, her eyes shifting towards at Spike. He looked absolutely stunning, and seeing him now took her breath away as much as it had when she’d first seen him in his very-well tailored tuxedo. She’d been practically panting as she’d tied his bowtie for him, wanting nothing more than to rip it off instead of helping to put it on. He’d promised her “later” with a smirk, and Buffy knew she was going to hold him to that.

“Wankers, huh?” she asked, whispering as well. “So I’m guessing this isn’t an evening with your closest friends?”

Spike snorted. “Hardly. Oh, bloody hell. Here comes the biggest wanker of them all.”

A short, heavyset man approached the couple, a grin on his face that Buffy didn’t think could be anything but smug. “How good to see you, Lord Pratt,” the man said, taking William’s hand in a firm shake. “And who is this you have with you? Did you invite one of the students your generous contribution benefited to accompany you?”

The man asked the question with the smile still in place, yet Buffy could tell it was truly meant to be more barb than playful tease. Spike smiled back, though a muscle in his cheek was ticking as he took his hand from the man and slid it around Buffy. “This is Miss Buffy Summers, visiting from Los Angeles, California. Buffy, this is Sir Quentin Travers.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Travers replied as he took Buffy’s hand, raising it to his lips for a kiss. Buffy shuddered, but tried to continue to be as polite as possible. “I am sure Lord Pratt has given you a worthy tour of our fair city?”

“Yes, William’s shown me a lovely time,” Buffy replied. She glanced at Spike, wanting approval for what she’d just said, afraid she’d give the wrong response and embarrass him in front of all the rich British people.

Instead, she ended up blushing as he smirked smugly, adding plenty of innuendo to her answer.

“I’m sure he has,” Travers replied with a knowing smirk, making Buffy blush harder. She didn’t think she liked this. It suddenly made her feel very cheap…

“It was good to see you again, Quentin,” Spike said, wanting to cut the conversation short as much as Buffy. “Please give my regards to your wife.” He didn’t wait for a response from the other man as he led Buffy away.

He leaned down to talk softly to her as they walked away. “Sorry about that, luv. He’s just bitter because he can’t get someone young and gorgeous to touch him, and his wife’s uglier than the queen’s arse.”

And just like that, Buffy was over her embarrassment. She giggled, Spike somehow knowing just how to make her feel better. So what if people like Quentin looked at her like she was some cheap floozy on William’s arm? He didn’t look at her that way, and that was what mattered.

“So what’s this about you making generous contributions?” Buffy asked.

Spike coughed, running his hand over his gelled curls and shifting uncomfortably. “Oh. I just gave some money to this charity thing. It wasn’t anything big.”

Suddenly, a blonde woman came running up to them, throwing her arms around Spike and kissing him on either cheek. “Oh, I’m so glad you came, William!” she exclaimed as she pulled away. “I was worried you wouldn’t come to our little gala at all, and what a pity it would be to miss getting to see our man of the evening.”

“Well, I couldn’t rightly miss it, Lydia,” Spike replied, and this time it was his turn to blush. He glanced over at Buffy and wondered if that arched eyebrow meant he was in trouble.

“You’ve been such a recluse lately, you’ve had some of us right worried, William,” Lydia said. She turned towards Buffy. “And who is this lovely creature you’re escorting tonight?”

“This is Miss Buffy Summers,” Spike replied. “She’s a friend.”

Lydia gave Spike a knowing look. “I’m sure she is. And she is just gorgeous.” Lydia hugged Buffy in the same manner she had Spike. “You must be so proud of our William,” she told Buffy. “Donating a million pounds! We don’t get many offers that generous these days.”

Buffy’s eyes bugged. He had that much money to donate? She’d assumed he was rich, what with the estate and all, but…wow. She tried to calculate the sum into dollars, but it made her head hurt.

“It was my mother’s favorite charity, after all,” Spike replied, though the tips of his ears were bright pink. “It was really for her.”

“Oh listen to how modest he is,” Lydia said, patting Spike on the cheek. “You better keep your hands on this one, Miss Summers. He’s a rare find. I would’ve snatched him up myself if I didn’t already have a husband I adore.”

Spike blushed harder. “Lydia…”

“Oh, look at you, getting all embarrassed. It’s adorable.” Lydia patted him on the cheek. “I have some things I must attend to, but I’ll be finding the two of you later in the evening, I’m sure. And I trust you’ve prepared something to say, William?”

“Yeah, I have.”

“Oh, good. Everyone’s dying to hear from you tonight. Enjoy yourselves!”

With that, Lydia flitted off as quickly as she’d come, leaving Buffy feeling almost out of breath. “Prepared something to say?”

“Yeah. Apparently when you give someone a million pounds, they expect you to make a speech,” Spike grumbled. “You’d think the money would be enough. I hate speaking in public.”

“But you do the poetry thing,” Buffy said with a frown. “You certainly didn’t seem nervous about that.”

“That’s different. When I read my poetry, I just retreat into another world. But having to try to say something witty in front of all these posh snobs? Not my idea of a good time.”

Buffy linked her arm with his. “Well, I’ll be in the audience. You can just look at me.”

Spike’s nervous expression morphed into a leer. “And picture you naked?”

Buffy laughed. “If it helps, go for it.”

“Actually, that might not be such a good idea. Then I’d end up shagging you, and then it would just cause problems.”

“For them, maybe,” Buffy replied with a snort.

“Ooh…feeling like a bit of an exhibitionist tonight, are we?” Spike asked, his hand migrating to her rear end.

Buffy giggled. “Spike, stop that.”

“William?”

A soft, female voice made Spike freeze, his hand falling away from Buffy. He turned slowly towards a slender brunette and swallowed hard before managing to say, “Hello, Fred.”

Buffy felt her heart speeding up in her chest. This wasn’t a mere acquaintance. This was someone Spike knew well – and from the body language, she assumed very well.

“Is Wesley here tonight?” Spike asked, trying to appear casual, though his nervousness was still more than apparent.

“Yes. He’s…he’s talking to someone else he knows. I saw you, and I…” Fred looked down, blushing softly. “I saw you over here.”

“Yeah, I kinda had to come to this thing.” Spike cleared his throat. “So, um, how are things?”

“They’re good,” Fred replied. “Really good. I just got an article published in a journal, and they’re wanting me to give a talk at an upcoming physics symposium at Cambridge, so yeah…they’re good.”

Spike nodded. “That’s…that’s good.”

Buffy swallowed hard as she glanced between Spike and Fred. He’d made no move to introduce her, and now it turned out the woman was a physicist? The feelings she had when they’d met Quentin Travers suddenly came flooding back, and she felt very, very inadequate.

“So who’s this with you?” Fred asked, looking over at Buffy.

Spike started. “Oh, right, introductions. I’m so sorry.” He gave Buffy a quick apologetic look, and she replied with a tight-lipped smile. At least he knew he’d just been an ass… “This is Buffy Summers. She’s Rupert Giles’s stepdaughter.”

Fred took Buffy’s hand and gave her a big smile, though Buffy couldn’t help but feel slighted by the introduction. Although she guessed Spike couldn’t exactly announce she was his current shagging partner, especially since they’d only really known each other a week. They hadn’t given their relationship a name yet…

“Giles is just the sweetest man,” Fred said as she shook Buffy’s hand.

“Yeah, he’s a good guy,” Buffy replied as Fred slipped her hand away.

“So are you staying in London long?” Fred asked.

“No, Spike and I are just in town for the weekend,” Buffy said as she slipped her arm into his. She didn’t care if Spike didn’t want to make it obvious they were sleeping together at the moment – she did.

Fred’s smile faltered slightly, her gaze drawn to where their arms were linked, but then she was grinning again. “Well, I hope you have a good time while you’re here. London is really an amazing city. I mean, I’m just a gal from Texas, so I’m probably a bit of a hick, but I fell in love as soon as I got here.”

Buffy didn’t miss the look she gave William at that, and she didn’t like it. Not at all.

And Spike didn’t miss the look in his date’s eyes. He cleared his throat. “Buffy and I were about to get something to drink. Did you want to…”

“Oh, I should really get back to Wes,” Fred said. “But it was nice to meet you, Buffy.”

“Yeah, you, too, Fred,” Buffy replied, hoping she sounded genuine.

“You’re a jackass,” Buffy hissed once she was gone.

“Huh?”

“When you very obvious ex comes up, you don’t ignore me until she says something,” Buffy replied, her arms over her chest.

“I know. I’m sorry. Seeing her here threw me for a loop.” Spike put his arms on Buffy’s shoulders and met her eyes, and suddenly, she didn’t feel so angry. “Fred and I were together a long time ago, right after Dru left. I wasn’t really ready for another relationship, we decided we were better off as friends, and she married my cousin. There’s no lingering love, I promise you.”

“I don’t know,” Buffy said, crossing her arms over her chest and trying not to give in so quickly. “She looked kind of…lingery.”

Spike gave her a crooked grin and kissed her forehead. “You’re cute when you’re jealous, kitten. But don’t worry about anything. You’re the only woman I want to be with. And really, I’d rather just be back at the flat, alone with you right now instead of having to deal with exes, sycophants, and pretentious arseholes who can’t even get my title right.” He winked at her. “But it’ll be over soon, I promise.”

Buffy chuckled, and Spike knew he’d won her back over. “Okay. But you owe me something good for this.”

Spike leaned in and whispered against her ear, “I’ll eat you out for as long as you want.”

“You’re completely forgiven.”

Spike laughed, a true, rich laugh, and Buffy felt warm again. This was far from her world, but if she was here with Spike, maybe it would be okay.

He linked his arm with hers again and together they walked away.

“I’m not very smart.”

Spike turned to his side, still panting from the exertion of his latest round of lovemaking with Buffy. Her gown was somewhere by the front door and bits of his tuxedo where littering the flat. “What?”

“I’m not very smart,” Buffy repeated. “I mean, your ex is a physicist…”

“Yeah, and my last girlfriend was a Playboy Bunny.”

Buffy glared at him. “Okay, that didn’t help at all, Spike. Now I think my boobs are too small…”

“Bloody hell, woman,” Spike grumbled. “Your boobs are perfect and you’re very smart.”

“I’m not a physicist,” Buffy replied with a pout.

Spike propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her. “Look, Buffy… Yeah, Fred’s a certified genius. But honestly? Half the time, I had no clue what the woman was talking about. She made me feel dumb.”

“You’re not dumb at all,” Buffy insisted.

“And neither are you,” Spike replied, kissing the tip of her nose. He gave her a crooked grin. “We’re just not physicists. But you’re very insightful and I love talking to you. You have this very nonlinear way of thinking of things, and it’s bloody great. You look at everything in ways I’d never even imagined, and hearing what you think about things… It always keeps me interested.”

“Really? My ex told me I was a rambler and it got on his nerves. He said I’d go on stupid tangents.”

“You go on tangents, but they’re not stupid. They’re adorable.” Spike kissed her softly. “Everything about you is adorable.”

“I didn’t like tonight,” Buffy admitted softly.

“I know,” Spike said, pulling her into his arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t much care for it either. It was just something I had to do.”

“Do you have to do that sort of thing a lot?”

“More than I’d like.”

Buffy sighed and rolled out of his arms. “We don’t have much of a future, do we?”

Spike frowned hard, his brow furrowing. “I guess I hadn’t really given it a lot of thought.”

“I’m going back to California after Christmas. And then we’ll be at best a thirteen hour plan ride apart, not to mention the eight hour time difference. And I’ll be busy with school, and you’ll be busy, too, with your writing, and your…British lord stuff.”

Spike pulled her back into his arms, his grip almost crushing, and Buffy sucked in a deep breath, her eyes widening and her heart pounding faster, as if she was realizing the full extent of his desire for her for the first time. “We don’t have to say good bye forever,” he told her, his hands tangling in her hair. He paused for a moment breathing in deeply before he spoke again. “We could work something out, keep in touch, see each other when we can.”

“Like a part time thing?” Buffy asked, looking up at him.

“Yeah.” Spike pushed her hair out of her eyes and gave her a smile that broke her heart. “Beats nothing, right?”

She searched his eyes, looking for a place for her. She didn’t fit in his world, but maybe… “William?”

“Yeah?”

“How…how do you feel about me?”

“I’m falling in love with you,” he admitted. “Hard.”

Buffy couldn’t respond to that with words, not with all that stood between them. So she kissed him.

Hard.

*** *** ***

Buffy woke up alone. She frowned, sitting up with the covers clutched to her chest. Every other time she’d woken up in this bed Spike had been right there, curled up around her. “William?” she said, her voice small.

“I’m here, luv,” he said. She turned her head and saw him seated in a chair not from the bed, a notebook in his hands. He’d slipped on a pair of jeans, but hadn’t snapped the top button, and the picture he painted with his bare chest and hips and his tousled brown curls…

Buffy’s mouth went dry. He was gorgeous. And all hers. For now…

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Writing,” he replied.

“A poem?”

“Yeah.” He swallowed, making his Adam’s apple bob. Buffy had the sudden urge to bite it. “It’s about you.”

That admission made her start. “Really?”

He nodded. “I had to. I was watching you sleep, and…”

Buffy felt her whole body flush. She’d inspired poetry? And by a successful, famous poet no less… “Can I read it?”

“After I’m finished,” Spike told her. “I don’t…I don’t like people reading my poems when they aren’t done. I have to make sure they aren’t bloody awful before I show them off.”

“I doubt anything you write could be ‘bloody awful,’” Buffy replied with a soft smile.

“You’d be surprised.” Spike closed the notebook and set it on the floor, then swaggered over to the bed, Buffy’s eyes centered on his hips, her mouth dry.

“God, you’re a pretty man,” she said, her face lighting up with glee at the thought she got to have him. Even if it was only for a little while…

Spike unzipped his jeans and dropped them before covering her body, lowering her to the bed. He pushed the covers off of her, smirking when he saw her bared to him again. “I’m a lucky man, too,” he said before diving in, sucking and licking her neck. Buffy squealed, squirming beneath him.

“Want me inside?” Spike asked, nipping her earlobe.

“Yes, please,” Buffy replied, grinning. Her legs fell open, and Spike chuckled.

“Eager, baby?”

“Yes.” She thrust her hips up. “You make me feel so good, William…”

His eyes grew dark, the teasing going by the wayside. This woman drove him crazy… He didn’t know how he was going to be able to stand it when she was half way around the world from him.

He didn’t even want to think about that. He pushed inside of her, moaning as she sucked him in, welcoming him into her body. It felt so good…so tight and warm.

“Never felt so good, baby,” he moaned, beginning his thrusts. “Never…”

Buffy held onto him tightly, wanting to just live in the moment. She didn’t want to think about the things she knew could only keep them apart. She only wanted to think about how it felt when they were together. “William…don’t…don’t want to lose this. Don’t want to forget how good it is.”

Spike gritted his teeth, his eyes shut tight. It was too much. Being with her was too intense, too good. He felt everything with her, felt wanted. He barely knew her, and yet he felt like he’d known her forever.

Or been searching for her forever…

“I…I can’t…Buffy…” His hips jerked erratically before pushing down hard, pinning her as he came.

He was breathing hard as he rolled off of her, though he soon looked at her with a chagrined look. “Sorry, luv.”

“It’s okay… It’s kinda hot knowing I can drive you that crazy.”

“You drive me completely insane,” Spike told her, his hand skimming her body. “You’re so fucking tight. It’s hard to keep it together from the first thrust inside. Never been in something so tight…”

“There’s…there’s only been one other man before you,” Buffy admitted with a blush. “And we, um, we only actually went all the way three times, so…”

Buffy was pretty sure his eyes glassed over. “Damn, woman. That makes me way hotter than it probably should.”

She giggled. “You perv.”

His hand crept between her legs, grazing her opening. “Knowing I’ve been in here more than any other man? You have no idea what that does to me, pet.”

“I have some idea,” Buffy replied with a smirk, happy that he seemed turned on by her inexperience and not put off by it like she’d feared. She grabbed his hand and directed it to her clit. “You owe me an orgasm, buddy. Get to it.”

Spike’s hand immediately began to move, his fingers working over the nubbin. Buffy moaned, clinging to his forearm her body already close from having him inside of her. “Don’t…don’t stop…”

“I won’t, baby,” Spike promised, rubbing harder. “This how you need it?”

“Oh yeah…” Buffy replied. “Fuuuuck…that’s good.”

“Close?”

“Uh huh…” She grabbed his head with her free hand and pushed it to her breast. “Suck.”

Spike moaned at her take-charge attitude before pulling her nipple into his mouth, sucking hard and flicking his tongue over the hardened nub. Buffy gasped, her body shaking as she hovered over the edge. “Spike, Spike…please. Make me come, baby. I need to come…”

And he needed her to… His fingers were a blur against her, and it felt so good just to touch her, to feel her shaking beneath him. She was moaning his name, gasping in pleasure, and…

Oh fuck, he was hard again…

He rolled on top of her, pushed into her body, and she screamed in pleasure, the orgasm she’d been desperate for finally hitting her. He moved quickly inside her, the base of his cock rubbing against her nerve center with every thrust. “Oh god, this is good,” Buffy moaned, running her foot up his thigh. “I love this…”

“Me, too,” Spike replied between harsh pants of breath. “Fucking perfect, Buffy.”

Buffy panted for air, her body still shaking from her orgasm. Her nerves were raw, overstimulated. It was too much, pleasure overload.

She was going to come again…

She screamed, shook hard, scratched his back. Her pussy grew even tighter, and Spike cursed low, jerking above her when he came again.

Buffy couldn’t stop shaking, even as Spike rolled off of her. “Wha… Sex can feel like that?”

“Yeah, I just got the memo on that one, too, luv. You… I swear, you make me defy the laws of biology.”

Buffy giggled, feeling way too good to do anything but. Later, she could lament how unfair it was that she wanted a man this much that she couldn’t completely have. Right now, she only wanted to bask in the pleasure he’d given her. “I barely passed biology,” she told him. “And that was only because my roommate stayed up all night helping me study for the final.”

“You know, that turns me on way more than it probably should.”

“That I suck at science?” Buffy asked with a frown.

“No, that you’re young enough for it to still matter that you suck at science. I feel like such a dirty old man.”

“Pfft. Not an old man. Dirty, sure, but in a way sexy way.” She winked at him. “Although, yeah, you’re a total perv for getting a boner thinking about the fact that I still have a ‘teen’ on my age.”

“The practically a virgin thing doesn’t hurt your case either.”

“Okay, I take it back. You’re a dirty old man.”

Spike chuckled and pulled her into his arms, holding her against his chest. “Yeah, well, you seem to be liking that.”

“Apparently. I guess you can call me Lolita.”

“How about not.” Spike kissed the top of her head. “You’re very mature for your age, Buffy. And I’m not just saying that. I can have a better conversation with you than I can have with a lot of people closer to my own age.”

“You mean your Playboy Bunny wasn’t a great conversationalist?”

Spike groaned. “I never should’ve told you that.”

“Nope. It’ll be doing double duty as something to harass you about when I’m in a good mood and something to throw in your face when I’m feeling cranky. Nice going there, buddy.”

“Great.”

“So how were her cans anyway? Nice rack?”

“Fake,” Spike replied. “Not as fun as they looked.”

“Ass,” Buffy said with a smack to his chest, though she couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What? It’s the truth. They were like a couple of water balloons. And she had the fakest sex moan, too. Really, not the best I’ve ever had.”

“Like you actually cared they weren’t real,” Buffy said with a snort.

“I did. Look, as far as I’m concerned, a tit’s a tit. As long as I can paw it and suck it, I don’t really care how big it is. What matters more to me is how the woman responds when I do. And listening to you when I’ve got your breast in my mouth is so bloody erotic, Buffy. And they way you grab my hair to hold me in place…” He trembled at the mere thought of it. “Makes me so hard.”

Buffy frowned, mulling what he’d said over for a moment before she replied with, “You know, that was almost romantic.”

“Plus, yours probably won’t ever sag all that much.”

Buffy smacked his chest. “And that ruined it.”

He laughed. “Really, baby, I have no problem with your chest at all. Or any part of you. I think you’re perfect just being you.”

He spoke without artifice, and Buffy knew he meant what he said. It was a good feeling, knowing a man was as attracted to her as Spike was. “I like you like you are, too.” She snuggled closer to him, yawning as her eyes closed. “Sleep now. More sex tomorrow.”

“Sounds good to me, pet,” Spike told her with a chuckle before he kissed the top of her head.

She held him tightly, drifting off to sleep as more lines of poetry swam through his mind.