It was good to be out walking again Spike had to admit. Angelus and Drusilla were who knew where doing who knew what. He could not believe the ease with which she went from an incapacitated Spike to her sire when he returned to them. After all he had done for her it was bloody pitiful is what it was.

He stood in the cemetery out of sight as the Slayer fought and slayed vampires, hands jammed in the pockets of his leather duster. He had watched her before to familiarize himself with her life so he had an advantage over her when they fought. He had watched as she and the big Poof had sat on either side of her bedroom window talking and kissing. Spike had assumed until recently that they had done more than kissing, the Angelus Spike had known would never have stopped at kissing a girl.

He had watched while she performed the duties of her Calling. She was good, like a dancer, agile but dangerous like a jungle cat on the hunt. He had dreamt for months of killing her, claiming his third Slayer, and tasting her blood. He had been unable to claim his third as of yet his efforts to had been thwarted at every turn. Never had he encountered or heard of a Slayer with help, friends and family. It was a bloody disgusting display of progress if Spike had anything to say about it, which of course he did not.

He spat on the ground and then extinguished his cigarette, shaking his head as the vamp was dusted. She was far too good for Angelus anyway. What she ever saw in the big Poof Spike had no idea. Anyone with half a brain could have seen there was more to him than souled vampire out to help the Slayer fight evil. Spike would not put it past Angelus to know his soul would be lost. Angel would not have hurt the Slayer that way, though, so Spike suspected Angelus did not know.

Spike saw it as her fault that he was in the situation he was currently in. Dru with Angelus, tossing Spike aside like he was yesterday's rubbish. It was all the Slayer's fault and Spike wanted to find out for himself just what it was about her that caused Angelus to come back. No woman, no matter who she was, could be the cause. Angelus had insisted it was the only thing different. He would find out for himself, rape, torture and then kill her before bringing her mutilated body as a present to Angelus and Dru before setting the factory ablaze. If Dru chose to come with him all the better, but Angelus would die with his Slayer.

He pondered how Angelus might react to his little plan, but Spike did not rightly care. Fair was fair, right? An eye for an eye? Angelus was sticking it to Dru, so why shouldn't Spike turn around and do the same to the love of Angel's life. Somewhere inside Angelus love for the Slayer still resided. Spike knew it after he came back from the sodded high school all huffy about his experience with the Slayer. The bloody Poof should just try and turn her, make her his eternally and get it over with. The fool was not going to kill her.

Angelus and Drusilla would realize, of course, that he was no longer wheelchair bound when they came home to find him gone. That was part of the fun, of course. They would wait and wonder if Spike was going to come after them, if he had followed them. He did not need to follow them, he smelled them on one another. At first it had been a game for Angelus, to taunt and tease Spike, but at some point Angelus had dialed his flirtations up a notch.

Just as he wondered how he was going to carry out his little plan Spike got some help. Spike had debated about using Angelus as bait to get her to come with him. He suspected that despite everything she would come to Angelus' aid, fool that she was. The vamp must have done a number on her because she fell to the ground clutching her side. Spike watched and waited in case one of her pals was around. Foolish girl coming here alone knowing Angelus was gunning for her. It was probably emotion driving her, just as it was driving him.

Seeing that she was indeed alone, no friends coming to rescue her or carry her away, he was on her using his vampire stealth. He glanced quickly around the area, sniffing to ensure there was no one there but the Slayer and vampire dust. It would not do well to have Angelus come upon him now. A spot of sex, a good deal of violence, a heap of pain were in store for the Slayer this night. All pinnacled by her dying in a blaze of glory alongside her vampire lover.

He picked her up with ease, she was a tiny thing. He had never really had time to notice it before now. Of course before now they had been at each other's throats trying to kill one another, holding her in his arms had not been an option. He walked to the abandoned house across from the cemetery he had found once this plan of his had taken form. It had been close to where she patrolled and far enough away from both her home and the factory.

***

Buffy came to groggy but pushed her grogginess aside when she realized that she was not only gagged but her arms and legs were bound. They were securely bound she realized as she tested the restraints, whoever had abducted her knew what they were doing. Angel, she thought to herself. Who else would kidnap me? She opened her eyes and scanned the room only to see a bare wall to one side of her and the ceiling above her in a dark room. She turned her head, though it too was somehow secured to the bed she was on. She groaned, the noise muffled by the gag but noise nonetheless emitted. Surely Angel with his vampire hearing would hear her if he was nearby.

She heard movement, but instead of the dark hair and eyes she had been expecting she saw short bleached hair and vivid blue eyes and instantly groaned. Her eyes widened with unasked question and demand to know what was going on. Was she at the factory? Was Spike watching over her for Angel? The last she had seen of Spike he had been in a wheelchair. But he certainly was not confined to one as was evident by his hovering above her.

"I see you're awake, Slayer. I thought with your Slayer strength and healing you'd have come to before now," he said, looking down at her. "I'll remove the gag if you promise not to scream," he said his accent heavier than she remembered it.

She nodded her head as best as she could and he removed the gag. She noticed he avoided his hand coming into direct contact with her mouth. Smart man, she thought to herself. "What in the hell are you doing, Spike," she asked.

"Is that any way to greet your savior, Slayer?"

"My savior?"

"Yes, you were out patrolling alone and got good and hurt. Weren't for me happenin' along lord knows who might have found you."

"And you're better than the alternatives why?"

"If you'd like me to turn you over to Angelus I'd be happy to, Slayer. You've met Dru a time or two, he made her what she is. He would love getting his hands on a helpless Slayer. Even better than a helpless girl. Especially one he's already been with, he'll know just how to hurt you, how to prolong it, how to make you even enjoy it a little and hate yourself for that."

Okay, so Angel was not here, which meant they were not at the factory. "Where am I," she asked, giving voice to the next logical question.

"A safe place."

"With you? I don't think so."

"I tended your wound. You've got a couple bruises that looked bad a little while ago, but I imagine you'll be back to normal in no time."

Her eyes fell closed and she swallowed hard. The vampire had gotten her good with something, some weapon, though she never did see what it was. She tested the restraints once again only to be met with laughter. "You fixed me?"

"Didn't want you bleeding to death on me, not after you gave me such a perfect opportunity."

"Opportunity for what?"

"To do this," he said simply, gesturing to the bed she was lying on.

"You can't possibly keep me here."

"I can and I will. The shackles are secure and strong and even if you do break out of them, you'll have to get past the bars on the windows there and the door that locks from the outside."

"You're a pig, Spike."

"I might very well be, Slayer, but I'm a pig who's saved your life."

"I wouldn't have died."

"You don't know that. Not from your wound I'll grant you that. But if I had not stumbled upon you someone would have who wanted you dead."

"And you don't want me dead?"

"Well, not yet, no. The fun would not be in kicking you when you are already down, Slayer."

"How considerate of you."

"That's me."

She rolled her eyes, flinching when his hand encircled her ankle. The shackles prevented her from flinching much. She had not noticed before now that her pants were gone. "Why am I undressed?"

"Had to to get to the whole wound, pet," he said. "That's my shirt you've got on, too, yours was torn."

"Oh," she said softly, noticing now that his trademark T-shirt was missing underneath the button-up shirts he always wore.

"Tell me something, Slayer," he said, trailing the back of his hand along her calf. He smiled, "cold," he said at the goose bumps that rose on her skin as a result. His voice was soft, seductive as if he was doing nothing wrong in holding her chained up against her will. "Do you want to tell Peaches ‘fuck you' in the best way possible? You can't kill him, can you?"

"Yes. No," she admitted almost mutely.

"I didn't think so. I know the feeling. Can't kill Dru neither."

"Drusilla," she asked. "What does she have to do with this?"

"Nothing really. Only your boyfriend went and lost his soul and she went back to him like the last hundred or so years hadn't even happened," he said, tracing a finger around her kneecap.

"Drusilla and Angel?"

"Angelus, pet. Angel is gone, he's no more. And yes, Drusilla is with him."

"So just kill him and be done with it."

"I might just do that yet, but I want him alive for this. I want him to think you came to me."

"I would never come to you, Spike," she said vehemently. She had struggled enough against the chains to know she was securely in place. His hand at her leg was disarmingly gentle. If she closed her eyes she could almost pretend it was Angel touching her instead of the vampire who was with her now. "Never," she repeated.

"But you're here. Do you think my intent is to tell him the truth about how you came to be here? Are you going to go to the factory and tell him the truth? I think, Slayer, you have more important things to worry about where Angelus is concerned than whether he thinks I got into your knickers after he did or not."

"He would never believe it, Spike. Angelus or Angel, it doesn't matter, he still knows me better than that. It took me long enough to want to be with him."

"Mm, yes, and how that plays right into my little plan, Slayer. You waited so long, it was so good, he went and lost his soul leaving you wanting more. Tell me he did it for you, my big bad granddaddy Peaches? Should I tell you what Dru likes? Should I tell you what your precious Angelus is probably doing to her right now," he asked sardonically as he grazed her calf with the back of his hand.

Buffy closed her eyes and shook her head. Images flashed through her mind from her one night with Angel, the night she had unwittingly caused him to lose his soul and become the monster she now knew as Angelus. Drusilla then flashed in her mind, quite the opposite of Buffy. She could almost hear the female vampire laughing at Buffy as Angelus did the things to her Spike was offering to tell her about. "No," she said softly, tugging once again on the restraints securing her arms. She did not want to hear about Angel with or doing anything to anyone else. Tears formed in her eyes at the very thought of it. She wanted to believe that night had been special, as special to him as it had been to her. It was the only thing that kept her from going completely insane sometimes, knowing she was the cause for his losing his soul.

"Straight missionary with you, was he," Spike continued.

If he noticed she was on the verge of crying it did not seem to bother him. She kept her eyes tightly closed, willing the tears to stop. One thing about being the Slayer and having all these exceptional powers, she could never stop herself from crying no matter how much she might want to. Heal from a wound some might die from in a matter of a day or two, but she could not stop the tears from falling.

"Yeah, I just know he was being the great charmer he was as a Poof, he would take care when relieving a girl of her innocence. Nice, gentle, careful, bet he didn't even vamp out on your or anything, did he? How many others do you think there were before you, pet? Two hundred forty or so years he's had, surely you don't think you are the only one."

She whimpered softly, pulling on the chains at either arm, determined not to answer any of his questions about this. Just who was he trying to piss off, her or Angel? She did not think Spike would want both of them after him. Then again, what did she know?

His hand moved to her thigh, pushing up the hem of the T-shirt she had on. His T-shirt. "No," she said loudly pulling at the chains again, which did nothing but cut into her flesh even more. He obviously did not want to kill her, but she did not like the idea of him doing anything else to her either. She at least had fond memories of the actual act of lovemaking she and Angel had done. She did not want that image ruined with whatever Spike had in mind. "Spike, please. You don't have to do this. I'll tell him whatever you want. Go along with whatever you want me to say we did. Just please don't," she pleaded. She was probably doing exactly what he wanted her to do, beg.

"But that would be no fun, Slayer," he said. He had pushed the shirt to her waist leaving her lower half bared to him with the exception of the slip of material that made up her panties. "You like vampires. I'm just giving you what you like. What you need. A real vampire. No souls, no curses. Tell me you haven't wondered what it was really supposed to be like?"

"There was nothing wrong with it to make me wonder that."

"Right Slayer, holier than thou even when you have to know, have to believe you got a raw deal. I mean other than his leaving you afterward, other than the fact you gave yourself to one man and he turned into another as a result of that I suppose no nothing went wrong."

"What did he tell you, everything?"

"Not everything. The actual deed he's kept the details of to himself, but the after he was rather boastful about when he found us."

"Great," she said softly, gasping in an attempt to continue holding back the tears. He slid onto the bed, kneeling above her. She could not help but look at him when she felt the shifting of the bed's weight beneath her. He was going to rape her she knew it with ever fiber of her being. He was going to take the memory she had of her one time with Angel and turn it into something painful and vile, obscene. How he could look at her so impassively, his blue eyes looking at her as if they were discussing the weather or yesterday's homework assignment. Cold. He was a cold blooded killer. "Spike, please."

"I'd never much thought about shagging a slayer instead of bagging one," he said as if dismissing her protests. "I guess my hat goes off to Angelus for thinking of doing that first."

"He hasn't killed me yet and neither have you."

"But I could have tonight, Slayer."

"I'd rather you did."

"You say that now, I haven't even started yet."

"I won't change my mind, Spike. I wasn't chained to a bed with Angel, he didn't force himself on me. He didn't kidnap me."

"You might come to like being chained, Slayer," he said, placing both hands at her thighs. "Enjoy being helpless for a while," he said as he lowered his face to her thigh.

She flinched accompanied by a barely audible "eww" and a knee jerk reaction when she felt him lick her leg. He started near her knee and worked his way up her thigh. When she no longer felt his mouth touching her, she let out a sigh of relief. She dared to open her eyes only to see him move his mouth between her legs. "Spike, please don't," she whispered hoarsely, the strain from holding back the tears evident in her voice. She jerked on the chains, both with her arms and her legs.

"No use pulling on them, pet. I've got practice in securing my victims, Slayer strength or no you are stuck until I release you," he said as a finger pushed aside the crotch of her panties. "Just a little taste, Slayer. I've tasted the blood of two of your kind, but never tasted the essence of one from her feminine core. Never tasted what made them a woman," he said before dipping his head to do just that.

He tasted her, licked her, bit her, kissed her, sucked her and tormented her. With her eyes open, looking at him, watching him it was easy to remind herself that he was holding her captive, raping her. But with her eyes closed, which they did of their own free will, it was difficult for her not to acknowledge Spike was attractive. And oh, she thought as his tongue flicked just right, he does that so well. It would have been much much easier to argue with him if he was hurting her but he was not.

"Did your precious Poof not do this for you, Slayer," he said as he stopped.

She whimpered unabashedly, torn between being glad that he stopped and wanting him to continue. "No," she said her breathing shallow.

"I suppose he thought you'd find it dirty. You don't, though do you, Slayer," he asked.

She did not know how to answer him. Not when she herself did not know if she understood exactly what he was asking her to admit to. Any answer she might have given him was forgotten as he slid a finger inside of her.

***

Vampire and Slayer gasped in unison at his invasion. Vivid blue eyes meeting hazel. "No wonder he lost his soul," he whispered hoarsely.

"What," she asked sharply, her hands balling into fists as he slid his finger in and out of her. Her body was betraying her and Spike loved that it was. She was wet and it was not just from his getting her wet with his mouth. He had never hesitated to rape a woman in the past if he wanted her before draining her, or while draining her, but he wanted the Slayer to want this. His earlier thoughts had been of rape, mutilation and death. Somehow as he had tended her wound he had stopped wanting to take her by force. The death aspect of his thoughts still appealed to him.

Would he go beyond this if she still said no? No. Just as he could not bring himself to kill her when she was defenseless he would not take her when she was defenseless either. He would go back to the factory with enough evidence that he had been with her, smelling like her, to piss Angelus and Drusilla off.

"You're tight, so tight, Slayer. Grip my finger like it's in a vice," he said, bringing his mouth once again between her legs. "Makes me want to taste even more of you," he murmured. She was slick and wet from his saliva and from her arousal but still she was tight around him. He alternated between gentle and rough, bordering on this side of pain. She was the Slayer, she could take it and he guessed not only that but she would like it. He heard her heart start to race, heard her breathing grow more rapid, smelled as more juices pooled at the apex between her legs as he toyed with her clit, and felt as the pulse point at her leg thrummed.

"Spike," she whispered. "I can't move," she said her frustration clear. He could hear her pulling on the chains.

"Don't need to move, Slayer. Just feel it, let go, let me do all the work. Nothing to hide from here, no reason to be quiet or anything else, just let go," he whispered, tempted to remove the chains. Not yet. "Just let go," he repeated once again as stroked her clit with his thumb.

"I can't. Stop. This is wrong," he heard her whisper. He knew she was close to a climax, found himself getting more aroused as he watched her fight against the chains securing her in an attempt to spread her legs and arch her back. Perhaps it was out of frustration due to her inability to move but he was unprepared for her physical climax to be matched with one vocally. He almost came without being inside of her when he heard her call out, not his name but that was all right. At least she had not called out Angel's name.

"Wrong can be very good, Slayer. I haven't hurt you, have I?"

"No," she said, shaking her head as much as the restraint would allow. "But we don't like each other. How can you do these things to me? Why are you doing these things to me?"

"Told you. Want to show you what it should have been like. Want to get back at them. Want to piss Angelus off. I'm sure he thinks you're just going to sit around mooning after him. Sit around waiting for him to come to his senses, realize soul or not he loves you," he said as he drew the T-shirt down covering her somewhat once more. His eyes met hers and he frowned. "You do think that, don't you?"

"No. I know he won't come back to me, but like he's going to believe I sought you out."

"So I sought you out, seduced you. Whatever, it makes no difference. It doesn't matter how we ended up here, just that we did. He would believe that. He's snaking Dru, serves him right."

"So that's what this is? A revenge kick?"

"No, just curiosity I guess. I wanted to feel you, had to know just what he was yammering on about how terrible you were to make him feel the things he felt. He was bloody pissed off coming back from the high school when you and he did that little ghost possession thing. Felt all lovey dovey and everything, couldn't stand it."

"I know," she said somberly. He followed her gaze, saw she was looking at the bulge in his pants that had gone down somewhat since he had stopped going down on her but not entirely.

"Curious now, Slayer," he could not help but ask, his scarred brow rose as accent to his question.

"And what if I was?"

"Don't know. Don't know if you could handle ol' Spike," he said with a light laugh.

"Think highly of yourself much."

"Wasn't necessarily being egotistical when I said it, Slayer. You're just," he said, holding up his finger. "I'm not this small."

"Neither was Angel."

"Listen to you. You got an itch now that you want Spike to scratch, is that it? Got you off once and that's not enough, you need an encore with something real inside of you."

"No," she said, shaking her head.

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself, Slayer? I'll do you, but only if I hear you say you want it, want no cries of rape next time we run into one another. Will defeat the purpose of this whole thing if Angelus thinks I got you to give it up by force."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head slightly. "You are such a pig. Why would I even think about it, Spike?"

"A good shag, no strings attached, no wigging out by me when it's over with. You never know, we might even go a few rounds before the sun rises and I have to get back. Satisfaction guaranteed."

"Right."

"Oh, sweetheart, I've never had a complaint yet. And you're not screaming your head off, so you aren't completely put off by the idea. It's up to you, Slayer. A good get your rocks off, one night of pure meaningless shagging good time sex might be just what you need."

"And what, tomorrow you go your way and I go mine as if nothing happened?"

"That's the general idea, yeah. Angelus will come after us either way, I smell like you, Slayer. You're not looking for love and neither am I."

"No, you're right." She paused and Spike could almost read her mind, see the conflict going on in there. "What the hell am I saying? I'm not going to have sex with you, Spike. There are better ways for me to get back at Angel then sleep with you."

"Besides killing him, name one? Wouldn't you like to know exactly what set him off? And you know it will. Or would you rather wait for days, weeks, or months for him to plot some careful plan to kill you. Don't forget he knows how you fight, he knows your moves better than anyone. We do this and you know it will send him into a jealous rage. He'll come after you first for betraying him, and then me. But we'll both be ready for it."

"You don't know he'll do it. He might not even care. He might be happy, he'll have Drusilla then."

"I know him, Slayer. He will care, just like I care that he's snaking Dru. We don't operate or think like humans, our feelings can be far more base, primal and intense than a human's. It's the demon in us. He'll laugh at me, sure, that he was here first, inside you first, but that's where you get to have the fun and tell him I was better. Really blow his gasket good."

"He'd know I was lying."

"Not if I'm really better," he said cockily.

"And you're going to help me if he comes after me?"

"I'm suggesting this trap and I personally don't want to see him credited with a Slayer killing. So, yeah, I'll be there. Unless I'm dust," he said simply. Sensing she was going to submit or at least was on the verge of doing so, he began to trace a fingertip along her thigh.

"Do I get the chains off?"

"If you want them off. It might make you feel better if I left them on. I know I'd like it."

She closed her eyes and Spike couldn't help but chuckle lightly. He would love to be able to see inside her mind and know what she was thinking right now. "Make me feel better how?"

He shrugged, continuing to trace higher along her thigh. His hand slid under the T-shirt, parting her legs slightly as he slid his hand between her thighs. He slid a finger inside of her, groaning softly at how tight she felt around him. Not that he had forgotten in the short time that had passed but it was still shocking. "You might like letting ol' Spike take charge for a while," he said his voice a little hoarse. He really had not anticipated actually wanting the girl. No, when he played out this scenario in his head he pictured taking her whether she wanted him to or not. But as soon as he realized he would not rape her he knew his conscience was playing him.

He saw her struggle to swallow and he smiled wickedly as he raised his hand higher so his thumb could stroke her clit. "When you do things like that it makes it hard to say no," she said.

"That's the point," he murmured, dipping his head between her legs once again. He repeated what he had done earlier, feasting on the taste of her. He enveloped his tongue and surrounded his mouth with her body's warm arousal before taking her clit in between his lips, teasing it with his tongue and teeth.

"Spike," he heard her murmur but he did not respond. Instead he drew his face over to an inner thigh and grazed her flesh there with his blunt teeth. He licked the tender, creamy flesh tasting more evidence of her arousal. He vamped out and bit into her inner thigh, timed perfectly with her release as his fingers and thumb worked to bring her over the edge as he tasted her blood. He had all he could do when she cried out in both pain and arousal to quell his demon and take only a sampling. He would sample more later from her neck, but he wanted there to be no question that Spike had been and done what he claimed should Angelus get close enough to her to see.

He drew away, licking her thigh before licking his fangs clean. "You bastard," she said softly.

"I did it for your enjoyment, Slayer. Don't tell me you didn't enjoy it," he said with a light chuckle as he dropped his hands to the front of his jeans. He began undoing his belt. "I heard you, I felt you come, Slayer."

"Oh my God," she said, her eyes growing wide as he pushed his jeans out of the way.

"What?"

"There's no way," she whispered, her eyes focused on his erect cock.

He laughed heartily when the protest was accompanied by her licking her lips. "Let's find out, shall we, Slayer?"

She did not reply, which Spike took as agreement. He knew this Slayer well enough to know she would be screaming her lungs out if she really objected any longer to his taking her. He placed himself over her, his bare chest pressed against her chest covered by his T-shirt. He pushed the offending article of clothing out of his way and groaned softly as his bare chest met hers at the same time that his erection met the triangle of curls between her legs. He slid between her lips, felt her wetness, smelled her arousal mixed with his own and still had the taste of her blood on his tongue. He braced himself, a hand on either side of her on the bed. "Look at me, Slayer. Eyes open," he whispered, as he brought his cock even with the opening between her legs.

She hesitated to open them and he teased her by rubbing himself between her lips again without entering her. "Look at me," he repeated. "Good girl," he whispered when she opened her eyes. He could see unshed tears in them and if he were not aroused as hell might have stopped. But he was too far gone, too close to sinking his undead shaft into the very lifelike core of this Slayer.

He entered her, gently, slowly, little by little watching her face for guidance. Her breathing became slow and shallow the closer he got to filling her completely. "And you said it wouldn't fit," he said with a light laugh as he continued thrusting inside of her. He was not all the way inside of her yet, but he was close and he could feel her opening up to him, felt himself sink deeper and deeper into her.

His eyes fell closed and he groaned, loud and animal-like when he was in her to the hilt. He was as far as he could go and she felt good around him. He remained still for a moment, allowing her to adjust to him and relishing the tightness that was the Slayer.

"Open your eyes," he heard her say smugly and he did. "No pretending I'm Drusilla."

"Never," he said, timing the statement with a quick pulling out of her and a deep thrust back inside of her, filling her once again to the hilt. She gasped at the sudden invasion and he smiled smugly. He had flowery words and poetic compliments to pay her about her being the opposite of Drusilla, light where Dru was dark, white where Dru was black, good and pure where Dru was evil and impure. Fortunately, none of the words crossed his lips. This was not the time for such things to be said. This was sex, nothing more and nothing less.

She had already come twice so he was not entirely concerned with her coming this way. As tight as she was coupled with the sounds she was making and the movements she was trying to make as he thrust in and out of her Spike did not fool himself into thinking he would last long. She was as close to pure and untouched as Spike was going to get.

He did take advantage of being free to touch her while she was restrained. His hands roamed freely, touching wherever he could from her breasts to her hips, reaching underneath her to touch her back and ass. She was soft, warm, intoxicating and Spike felt briefly as if he were not worthy of such a treat. His mouth found her breasts and he enjoyed each of them in turn, tasting her and feeling her nipples react to his ministrations. He was leaving no part of her untouched.

Spike had no problem believing this was how Angel had lost his soul. Thoughts of Angelus spurred Spike to go deeper and harder, he took faster strokes as he pounded into her trying to drive the images of Angelus inside of her out of his own mind. He heard her call his name, heard her say ‘no' when he vamped out, but he could no more stop what he was doing than willingly walk into the sunlight. He sank into her neck as he thrust into her, drinking her life's blood out of her as he filled her with his vampiric essence.

He dropped his head to her chest, listening with rapt attention and interest to her beating heart. It had been a long time since he had bothered paying attention to what a human's heart actually sounded like. Anymore, he just ate them and killed them with no concern about anything else. Sustenance that's what humans were to him.

He slid from between her legs, placing a last nip to a breast before he stood from the bed. He slid his jeans back up to their rightful place around his hips and grabbed a towel he had brought for just this reason. "You going to stake me now," he asked as he wiped between her legs.

She whimpered softly and he inclined his head until he spotted blood on the towel and realized that he had hurt her. He had smelled she was bleeding, but had not paid attention to where it was coming from. "I'm sorry, pet, didn't mean to be that rough on you," he said. "Be right back then," he called before disappearing from the room.

"Could you at least pull the shirt back down," she called out but he was already in the bathroom dampening the towel.

"Bloody hell you can't even be nice to me after we've shagged," he said as he returned to the room. He noticed her smile slightly when he did just as she asked and pulled the shirt down around her waist. He thought he saw a look of relief in her eyes but was not entirely sure what that was for. He applied the now warm and moist towel between her legs, hoping it would help soothe her. "I could kiss it and make it better."

"I don't think that will be necessary," she said dryly, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Right, get gone down on by a vampire twice and fucked good by him once and you're back to being rude and bitchy."

"You didn't say we were going to have to be friends after this Spike."

"No, not friends. I could never be a friend with the likes of you Slayer. So just tell me, if I release you now are you going to try to stake me? Or should I just leave and call your Watcher, tell him where he can find you."

"You wouldn't dare," she spat.

"It would be kind of funny, but having you gunning for me sort of defeats the purpose of this little tête-à-tête," he said, trying to watch her face instead of where his hand was between her legs. She was still so warm and still at least somewhat aroused he could smell. It was hard not to hone in on that and get excited all over again.

"I'm not going to stake you, Spike. I know you didn't mean to hurt me, at least not this way. At least you stuck around afterward," she mumbled under her breath. Thanks to Spike's hearing he caught it.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she said softly.

"You think Peaches' leaving afterward was because of you? Because he was dissatisfied with you, Slayer?"

She said nothing, but her eyes said everything. Normally, Spike would be as happy as hell knowing that something, anything was bringing the Slayer down. It would be something he could use against her over and over again in battle to weaken her and hopefully kill her.

"I'm no Angel, I have no soul, and I know you think of me as an evil incarnate blood sucking murderer, if you even give me that much thought, but I think his leaving you afterward was to avoid your seeing him in pain for one."

"In pain?"

"Yeah, what did you think, he loses his soul in two seconds and bam he's Angelus again. It's a little more than that. The soul has to get extracted from the body, his mind has to get used to the fact that the demon is in charge again. The demon has to remind him of everything done for the past century in defiance. I've never experienced it, mind you, so I'm just talking off the cuff here."

"I don't think he put that much thought into it."

"He saved your life," Spike said simply.

"What?"

"You don't think if he had stayed with you in his lair he would have reached for the first living, breathing thing to feed off?"

"No."

"Slayer blood, Buffy. Just remember that. Slayer blood. He would have, I'm telling you. He might not have killed you, but he would have left you unconscious and not told anyone where you were." He saw a look of relief pass over her face and wondered why he even cared. "So no, Slayer, I don't think his leaving had anything to do with dissatisfaction of your time together. Having just been there, now granted you were restrained so I didn't get the full effect of having sex with the Slayer, but you're a tigress I can tell."

"I so don't need to hear that, Spike," she said, closing her eyes. "Please just unchain me so I can go. My mom is probably wondering where I am."

"No staking?"

"No staking."

"I'm going to be going back to the factory after this. I'll wait until as close to sunrise as I can so you can at least have tomorrow to prepare, but he'll be gunning for you as soon as the sun goes down."

"You really believe he's going to care?"

"I do, Slayer, I do."

"I guess I should call Giles and Willow and Xander and tell them to come to the house."

"You could."

"And if he doesn't show up I'll feel like an idiot."

"Better safe than sorry, Slayer. You never know, Dru might go in his place. Maybe I'm underestimating her and she will care I fucked someone else." He drew the key out of his pocket. "Nothing changes between us after this, right? It was just harmless fun, a good shag."

"I'm well aware of what this was, Spike. I would never have agreed to it if you hadn't chained me up and seduced me, but I'm not dumb."

He unlocked first her ankles and then her wrists before releasing her head from its restraint. "There you go, Slayer. All better. You can keep the shirt, yours is pretty tore up like I said."

"Oh right, I was hurt wasn't I," she said, drawing up the T-shirt to look at the gash along her side that ran lengthwise down to her thigh. "Thanks for seeing to it."

"No worries, I can't guarantee we won't come up against one another when all is said and done, but for tonight anyway I didn't want you dead."

"Only because I was more useful to you alive."

"Very true. Of course, I could have done this with you dead, but it wouldn't have been quite the same."

She held up her hand. "Okay, that's more than enough information, Spike. I know you are a vampire, I know you are a murderer but I am not here to play house with you and hear about your victims. And I sure don't want to hear about you having sex with dead people."

"Never said you were, just saying that I didn't necessarily need you alive and kicking, so I hope you might take that into consideration one day."

She sat up, placing her feet on the floor as she moved to the edge of the bed. "How long until sunrise?"

"A couple of hours, why?"

"Well, I was just thinking that if I will be facing a jealous and enraged Angelus sooner rather than later I'm not particularly in the mood to go home and get all cozy in my bed."

"And what did you have in mind? More slaying?"

"No," she said and Spike noticed she was looking at her feet now instead of him. Oh, this ought to be good, he could not help but think.

"Okay. Clue me in here, Slayer."

"Want to see what I'm like without the restraints?"

He paused for a second, processing her words, wondering if he had heard her right. He shook his head slightly, impossible, he thought. He could not have heard her right. "Did you just say?"

"Yeah. If I'm going to tell him how much I enjoyed myself with you, I want to enjoy myself."

"And you didn't get any enjoyment out of what I did earlier?"

"Well, yeah, but this would be different. I'd be a participant instead of an unable submissive." He started unfastening his belt and jeans. She looked up then, a slight smile on her lips as their eyes met. "I guess that's a yes."

"I think that is a fair assessment, Slayer," he said as he stepped out of them entirely. He watched as she lay back on the bed, closing her eyes. He could almost read her mind, sensed that she wondered what in the hell she was doing. He wondered the same thing himself, but he was not one to complain.

Life would go on for the two adversaries tomorrow, he would be the hunted vampire and she would be the Slayer, the huntee. Of course, he realized as he moved above her on the bed once she had shed the T-shirt Spike would have it no other way.

~The End~

Story ©Susan Matthews/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com