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Despite the fact that she was tired, Emma found herself having trouble sleeping. Dawn had fallen asleep almost immediately, and Emma figured she must've discovered some "how to sleep when the world may end tomorrow" technique that Emma wasn't aware of.

Emma's mind kept going between impending doom and Aiden. The whole mess of getting sucked into a hell dimension and being told the world might be ending would be wigsome enough without the hunky amulet-guardian thrown into the mix. Her thoughts drifted back to Dawn's insistence that Aiden had been hitting on her earlier, and she wondered if there was any truth to that. Normally, she had a pretty good idea of when a man was flirting and when he wasn't, but with Aiden she hadn't been paying the kind of attention she usually would. In the past, she'd never had any problem keeping her cool and being the one in the situation with the level head, but she'd never been around a man quite as gorgeous as Aiden. He looked at her and about all she could do was drool.

What if he had been making a pass at her? She could definitely use something to take her mind off of things, and Dawn had a point about her missing out on a big opportunity if she passed it up. Maybe if she just went down there and talked to him a bit, felt out the situation. If he had been hinting towards sex, then she was sure he'd make that clearer, and if not, she'd just leave. Simple as that.

Quietly, she climbed out of the bed, careful not to make any noise that would wake Dawn. She walked down the hall to Aiden's room, but stopped short when she got there. What would she say? What if he was already asleep and she was just going to bother him? She decided she'd been insane to go there in the first place and turned around, walking back towards her room.

"Emma?"

The sound of Aiden's voice made her stop short. She turned to see him standing in his now-open doorway. "Did I bother you?" she asked, pushing her hair away from her eyes. "I didn't mean to bother you…"

"No, you didn't," Aiden replied. "Though I am wondering why you came here only to stand by my door for a few minutes before leaving."

"I…I should go back to bed," Emma said.

"I know why you came. You were thinking about engaging in sexual intercourse with me, but then you became nervous, so you left."

Emma's eyes grew wide. "What? That's…that's insane is what that is. I don't know where you came up with that." She blushed.

"Your red-stained cheeks tell me all I need to know," Aiden said with a small grin. He walked out into the hall, approaching Emma. "You don't need to be coy. You're attracted to me, as I am to you. We have the time and could both use the release. Spend this evening with me, in my bed."

Emma just gaped, not knowing what to say in response. She wasn't exactly a novice when it came to sex, but she'd never known anyone to be quite so blunt. "I don't…I don't know if it's really such a good idea."

"I don't see why not." Aiden reached down and took her small hand in his much larger one. "It has been a long time since I've had a woman with me, Emma. My life is primarily a solitary one, and it is rare that I can find the pleasure of female companionship. It is not usually my way to ask a woman to allow me to take her so shortly after our meeting, but I've had my fill of cold, lonely nights. Tomorrow we begin our journey into battle. Let's make the most of tonight."

Emma swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. Aiden had a point. Besides, wasn't this why she'd come down here in the first place before she'd chickened out? And the man was absolutely beautiful… "Yeah, okay."

Aiden said nothing in response, only lifting her off of her feet and carrying her away.

*** *** ***

Spike woke as Buffy scrambled to get out of bed, running towards the room Aiden had indicated was the bathroom. He hated seeing Buffy like this, hated knowing she was suffering. The pregnancy had been rough enough for her when they'd been home and it seemed that being in this other dimension was only making it worse.

She came out a few minutes later, looking wan and pale. "At least this demon dimension has pretty standard bathrooms," she said, climbing back into bed with Spike. "Running water and everything."

Spike wrapped his arm around her, reaching up to stroke her face. "How bad is it this morning?"

"Not so bad."

Spike looked down, meeting her eyes. "Don't lie to me."

Buffy sighed, knowing that she didn't have much of a chance of hiding the truth from Spike. "Pretty bad. Baby's still not happy about the whole interdimensional travel thing. Not that this pregnancy has exactly been a smooth ride from the start, but this certainly hasn't helped matters."

"We don't have to do this Buffy," Spike said. "There's a whole army of Slayers out there. Aiden could just as easily use some of them."

"None of them have my experience with this sort of stuff," Buffy replied. "Not even Faith, and she's been at it the second longest. Besides, this Chachi guy is after Dawn—I can't ignore that. If she's in danger, I have to be the one to fight. I can't have it any other way."

"I understand that. And I want to protect Dawn, too, but you may not be the best one to do it right now, luv."

"I'm still the Slayer," Buffy said, raising her chin defiantly. "Baby or no baby, I can still fight and I can still protect my sister."

"I just don't want any of you getting hurt," Spike told her. "What if something happened and we lost the baby?"

Buffy shook her head. "It won't happen. I'll be careful, I promise."

"Buffy, how careful can you be? We're going up against an army of demons. I don't think that's something they normally recommend for pregnant women."

"This is my job, Spike. It's what I do. And I can protect my unborn child just fine. I don't need you telling me what I can and can't do while I'm pregnant."

"I'm not…" Spike paused, taking a calming breath. "I'm not doing that, luv. I'm just worried, is all. You're weak and you're going into a dangerous situation. I don't want to lose you or our lil' bit."

"You won't. But I can't walk away from this. It's too important."

Spike conceded, knowing Buffy well enough to know when she wasn't going to back down from something. "Just be extra careful, all right, pet? It's not just you you're looking out for now."

"I know. And trust me, the last thing I want is to lose this baby. I haven't even had the chance to look into her eyes yet and I already love her."

Spike nudged her lightly. "So you're admitting I'm right and it's a girl then."

"No," Buffy replied. "That was a…generic her. I was just being PC and not automatically saying 'him.'"

"Right. You know as well as I do that there's a little Buffy in there."

"I don't know why you're so fixated on having a girl anyway. Aren't men supposed to want strapping young lads that they can mold in their image?" Buffy asked.

"Maybe. But I want a daddy's girl that I can spoil rotten," Spike answered with a grin.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You're impossible." She settled back into Spike's arms, deciding that if Aiden hadn't come to wake them yet, then she was getting more sleep.

"That's nothing new," Spike countered, holding on to Buffy tightly.

"No, it sure isn't." Buffy's eyes drifted shut. "Although I am setting one rule right now for the spoilage. No ponies. I don't care how hard she begs, our flat is not big enough."

Spike chuckled. "All right, pet. No ponies."

*** *** ***

Emma opened her eyes with the uncertainty one feels when waking up in a strange bed. She turned, amending that. Waking up in a strange bed with a strange man…

The events of the night before came rushing back and she blushed. Apparently the men of whatever dimension Aiden hailed from were much more knowledgeable when it came to pleasing a woman than the ones she'd known back in Texas. She'd had no idea sex could be like that.

Aiden was still asleep, and Emma took the opportunity to look him over. She'd been too caught up in everything he was doing the night before to really get a good look, though she hadn't missed the fact that his muscles were indeed "lickable." The man was chiseled perfection, every inch of him. She glanced down at the tent forming in the sheet and moistened her lips with her tongue. And she did mean every inch. She hadn't even known they came that big…

Deciding to come down to Aiden's room and then to take him up on his offer to spend the night with him had probably not been the most rational decision Emma had ever made, but it certainly wasn't one she regretted. It had been one of the most amazing experiences of her young life and it had done much in the way of calming her anxiety.

When she felt Aiden reach out and stroke her hair, Emma looked up sharply, meeting his eyes. She'd never known anyone with eyes that intense, and they made her feel a way she didn't think she had before. "Good morning, my sweet," Aiden said, smiling softly at her.

"Good morning," Emma replied, blushing a little.

"Even after all the ways I touched you last night, still you blush," Aiden teased, stroking her reddened cheek.

"I'm usually not much of a blusher," Emma said, though the red stain on her face darkened. "I think it's all your fault."

"That's blame I'll gladly accept," Aiden replied. He tilted her face up, kissing her until Emma felt lightheaded.

"Wow. You're one hell of a kisser," Emma admitted, smiling slightly.

"I've had many years to learn," Aiden said. "And I'd love to show you many of the other things I know, but there isn't time. Hopefully, the storm has passed by now and it will be safe for us to start our journey. As much as I would enjoy keeping you right here to make love to you over and over again, I'm afraid there are more pressing matters to attend to."

Emma looked up at him through hooded lashes. "Can I take a rain check then?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Aiden replied, his lips descending on hers again.

*** *** ***

"And where were you exactly?" Dawn asked when Emma came back into the room.

Emma glanced over at Dawn. She tried to look casual, though a smile soon crept to her lips. "Aiden's room."

"Oh my god, you were not!" Dawn gave Emma a teasing smile. "You total slut."

Emma giggled. "It was incredible, Dawn. I mean…wow. I thought I'd had sex before, but it was nothing like that. I'm starting to think that human guys just don't know how to do it."

"That is a very real possibility," Dawn said with a chuckle. "Not that I've had any complaints in my all of one physical relationship. Well, except for the whole part where he left me, but I'm so not in the mood to get into that." She cleared her throat. "So, what's up with the apocalypse? Was it called on account of too busy shagging?"

"Sadly, no," Emma replied. "Aiden's getting ready and then he's going to call us all back to the main chamber."

"Damn. I'm really not looking forward to this."

"Me either. I know I'm supposed to be all strong and a Slayer for the whole thing, but I have no clue how to be that," Emma admitted.

"It's not really that hard once you're actually in the battle," Dawn said. "Adrenaline and the will to survive kick in. Keeps you fighting. And I don't even have the instincts you have as a Slayer."

"Maybe it would be easier to have confidence if half my Slayer training didn't consist of constant reminders that Slayers die young. They make being called as a Slayer sound like getting diagnosed with terminal cancer," Emma said, frowning.

"It doesn't have to be that way," Dawn replied. "Not anymore anyway. For one thing, it's no longer one girl against every demon out there. Those odds weren't exactly fair. And Buffy's proven that a Slayer can live longer than a year or two at most."

"Hasn't she died twice?"

"Well, yeah, but she got better."

"Still, I'm not sure how comforting that really is."

A knock on the door stopped Dawn from responding, and Emma went over to answer it, not really wanting to talk about her possible imminent death any longer, and found Spike on the other side. "Aiden said he wants us all back in the main chamber." He looked at Emma askew for a moment before calling out to Dawn. "Bit, go across the hall and make sure your sister is getting on all right. She's had a bit of a rough morning."

Dawn hopped down off the bed and walked into the other bedroom, giving Spike a nod as she did. As soon as they were alone, Spike nudged Emma fully inside the room, shutting the door behind them. "Are you completely insane?" he asked.

Emma blinked. "What?"

"Sleeping with Aiden. We can't even one hundred percent trust him right now, despite his claim to be Drogyn's cousin. Could all be part of a trap."

"Or it could not be," Emma replied, crossing her arms in front of her. "We've got to trust him some, Spike, since we are pretty much at his mercy here."

"Doesn't mean you have to go shagging him," Spike said. "What if he'd been trying to separate us and he was just going after you first?"

"Well, seeing as I'm standing here right now and he certainly didn't do anything to hurt me, I'd have to say that wasn't the case. Besides, how to do you know anyway?"

"I can smell him all over you," Spike replied. "Thought I might have caught a little of you on him this morning, but I didn't get close enough to be sure."

"You can smell him on me? That's a little creepy, Spike."

"You don't know the half of it," Spike muttered. Then louder, "Look, Emma, just be careful, all right? We don't really know what this guy is all about. He could be what he says he is, he could not. It's not safe for you right now to get emotionally involved."

"I'm not! Geez, Spike, it was just sex. It doesn't mean that I'm fantasizing about riding off into the sunset with him. And while I do appreciate your concern, I already have five brothers—I really don't need another one."

Spike stiffened a little. "I'm just trying to look out for you. This life you've found yourself in is a dangerous one, especially if you don't know the ropes. You can't let your guard down at all until you know for certain who you can trust and who you can't."

"I know that. And I didn't let my guard down. Not really. And you've got to trust him a bit, too, to have agreed to stay here," Emma replied.

"Don't have much of a choice," Spike said. "But I also didn't sneak off by myself and shag him."

"Well, no, 'cause Buffy would so kick your ass," Emma said, unable to resist a small smile. "But really, I'm okay. It wasn't that big of a deal. I was just nervous about this whole impending apocalypse thing, it being my first and all, and Aiden was offering comfort. That's all."

"Just be careful, Em. I want all you girls to get out of here in one piece."

"I will be careful. And believe me, whether I slept with him or not won't make a damn bit of difference if Aiden becomes a threat."

"Good. Make sure it stays that way, at least while things are the way they are. We're not exactly on home turf here."

"I know." Emma reached out and gave Spike's arm a small squeeze. "And I do appreciate it that you're looking out for me. But I'm okay here. Not taking any crazy chances."

Spike's expression made it clear that he still wasn't so sure about that, but he didn't press the issue anymore. "All right. Come on, lets go get the Summers women and then head back to the chamber."

Emma nodded, glad that the lecture appeared to be over. "Okay. Let's go."

*** *** ***

Sorry I didn't update for a while, but I haven't forgotten about this story—I just got distracted by a very loud plot bunny. Hopefully, people are still interested in this one. Please leave a review and let me know!





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