Chapter 19
“Which floor, which room?” They were in the Westin Hotel lobby by the elevators, dripping water all over the marble floors with excited smiles glued to their faces.
“Sixth floor, 626.”
Once inside the elevator, Spike dropped her to her feet and pressed her against the wall as he kissed her, reaching out aimlessly to press the button that would take them to her floor. They were moaning so loudly, rubbing against one another, so lost in the sensations that they hadn’t noticed the appalled woman on the lift with them with one hand planted firmly over the eyes of her five year old daughter. However, when Spike’s hands squeezed Buffy’s breasts through the soaked fabric of her shirt and she cried out in pleasure, the mother hurriedly pushed the button to the next floor to get off as quickly as possible, deciding that the stairs were a better alternative to the free show they were giving her child who would surely be scarred for life.
Spike opened one eye when the elevator came to a stop and when he realized it was only the third floor, he continued his assault on Buffy’s lips, smiling against her mouth when he pinched her nipples and the mother clicked her tongue and huffed, hurrying her offspring out of the elevator.
“Can’ wait to be inside you,” he whispered against her ear, sliding one hand beneath her shirt and under her bra, the other fumbling with the clasp of her jeans.
“Spike, wait until we…oh, God,” he’d already shoved his hand down the front of her pants and started rubbing her over her panties.
“Where’s your key card?”
“Back…pocket, mmm,” she moaned, giving up on trying to be decent and savoring the feel of his large fingers that were quickly working her towards madness.
He released her breast and moved his hand around her, sliding it in her back pocket and fishing out her card, his other hand still eagerly stroking her while his tongue slipped into her mouth. A ding alerted them that they’d arrived on the sixth floor and they stumbled into the hall, hands still roaming over each other, lips and tongues tangled passionately and they finally made it to Buffy’s door. He slammed her against it with the hand that was nestled between her legs and slid the key card in the swipe lock with the other.
“I’m gonna come,” she whimpered, panting as he guided her inside and increased the pressure of his fingers.
Once the door shut behind him, he pulled his hand out of her pants and shrugged off his new leather duster, still nipping at her lips and groaning as she roughly dragged her nails down his chest. “You need to come now?” he asked silkily when his hand returned to its previous position.
She was breathing shallowly, clutching his arms as he moved her panties aside to stroke her but he waited patiently for her reply. “God, please…I’m so close already.”
He smiled, his ego soaring through the roof that he’d worked her up so quickly and rewarded her with one long finger that swiftly rammed inside of her as far as it could go. She cried out his name and stumbled on her heeled boots so he wrapped his free arm around the small of her back to hold her steady. Then he was mumbling, low and thick against her lips, telling her how hot she was, how he was going to make her scream, how slow he was going to slide his cock inside her once he was finished licking every inch of her pussy, how he couldn’t wait to feel her trembling beneath him, all the while holding his finger that he’d thrust into her perfectly still. He knew he could get her off just with his words, had done it once before, and so he kept his finger firmly inside her, looked her dead in the eye and said, “I love you.”
She quaked and fluttered around his finger, her arms tightened around his neck for support as she came, whimpering when he wouldn’t kiss her and merely held his mouth open, his lips delicately brushing hers as he drank in every breathy moan and cry he’d earned from her.
Satisfied that she’d come down from her orgasm, he slowly removed his hand and smiled at her.
“Look who’s smug,” she said coyly.
He shrugged nonchalantly and pulled her shirt up and over her arms. “Disappointed?”
Shaking her head and giggling as he unhooked her bra, she said, “That would be impossible.”
“I love your dirty talk,” he was backing them up towards the bed, humming and groaning into her mouth when she rubbed him over his jeans. “Still can’t get over it,” he hissed when she unzipped his fly and slid her hand inside to tease him. He yanked her hand away and glared at her with a wicked grin and tossed her onto the bed.
She couldn’t stop giggling and smiling at him and daintily lifted her feet in the air when he walked to the edge of the bed so he could take her shoes off. He grabbed both her ankles, slid her ass to the edge of the bed, placed her heels on his chest and unzipped the first boot. “You’re so bloody adorable.”
“Shut up,” she blushed even as she stretched her arms wide to show him her bare breasts, laughing at him when his eyes went glassy and he licked his lips. “Shoes!”
“Right, sorry,” he chuckled and removed her other boot, then yanked her jeans and panties down her legs in one motion. His eyes roamed over her body as he frantically removed his shirt and kicked off his boots.
“You’re gonna let me treat you proper, right?” he asked with a hint of insecurity. Even though he’d remembered everything from their past when he was human, he was still uncertain that she wanted him, that she wanted Spike, the demon, the vampire she’d rejected so many times before. His need to make love to her, to show her how devoted to her he was, and how much he adored her was far too great to be squashed with her dismissal of his affections, something she’d done time and time again. If she did it now, if she closed herself off from him in this moment, he’d be broken.
But Buffy was smiling at him so genuinely, smiling as if at any second she’d either burst into tears of joy or start singing, reaching her hands out to him and sighing so sweetly that he almost felt like a fool for even thinking it. “Well, you can’t treat me proper all the way over there, can you?”
“No, I can’t,” he said softly, his eyelashes lowering in a way that was almost demure, a way that was so William that she couldn’t help it any longer and she got up on her knees and kissed him on the cheeks.
“Do you need me to help you with your pants or are you going to be a big boy and do it yourself?” she batted her eyes sweetly and bit her lip.
He smirked at her and shook his head. “Bitch.”
She giggled and linked her arms around his neck, pressing her forehead to his. “You love it. Now come on! Get naked!”
His bravado returned from her encouragement and he trailed his hands down her back, onto her ass and squeezed, tracing the seam of her lips with his tongue and he grumbled with desire. “I will, but first I just want to look at you.”
She ducked her head shyly and sat on her heels on the edge of the bed, tentatively raising her eyes to his and swooning at the sweet smile on his face. “Here I am.”
His hands were on the waistline of his jeans as he looked at her, shaking his head in disbelief. “Never thought…” he lowered his head and slid his jeans down his hips. “I still can’t believe it.”
“Come here,” she pouted, raising her hands in the air. She squealed when he tackled her unexpectedly, laughed as he playfully bit her neck and rolled with her on the bed. She wouldn’t think about how she could have had this all along, this playful, sweet side of Spike that had constantly begged her in the past to let him show her how much he cared, the man inside him that was desperate to be recognized. It took his death to make her crave it, a portal to make her see it, and an apocalypse to make her find it.
She’d never been more blissfully happy in her life, couldn’t remember a time that she’d felt so free, so full. His lighthearted touches and chuckling subsided once he’d pressed his lips against hers. It was amazing that there was no difference between William and Spike when it came to the way he kissed, the way his lips moved so fluidly above hers, how he inhaled through his nose once they were fused together, how his tongue explored and massaged hers, curled into the window of her kiss and made her melt beneath him. But that was where the similarities between the man and the demon drastically forked and veered off course. When it came to everything else, Spike had pleasure down pat, had worked it to a science, knew her body inside and out, could make her come with a word. Conversely, he could frustrate her to no end with hours of teasing, smirking mischievously at her whimpering because the bastard knew exactly how to drive her crazy and took delight in knowing exactly where to touch her, when to give her what she wanted, and what she’d need to say in order to earn release which was always, “Please.”
She’d been so stubborn with him before, never wanting to back down and submit, always in charge, always trapped in a vicious cycle of denial. But he’d been patient. He would have waited days, would have put up with weeks of her scowling if she continued to fret and whine, had nothing to lose when it came to loving her and so he never gave in, knowing that she’d eventually cave. And she always had. She’d glare at him and beg, frustrated that she needed it too badly and he’d smile at her and make her come instantly with a flick of his finger or a twist of his hips. It infuriated her how easy it was for him to get her off, but at the same time, she knew the reason why though she was too afraid to admit it. No one, and that was evident now, but no one could make Buffy feel the way Spike did. And it scared her to death that someone, who up until then she considered beneath her, knew her body better than she did.
But she wasn’t afraid any more, wasn’t afraid of submitting to him, trusted him implicitly, and would never again deny herself the wonderful honor of being his lover. And Lord, was it an honor.
Take what he was doing to her at that present moment for a quick example. Her legs were flung over his shoulders, the only part of her touching the mattress was her head and arms, his hands were gripping her ass to hold her up while he knelt on the bed and his tongue was sliding in and out of her entrance like a cock, all while keeping his dark blue eyes fixed on hers which she refused to close this time. She wanted to see every minute of it, let him know that she was with him, and it was quite a difficult task to keep her eyes open because he was absolutely driving her mad with need.
“How do you…do that?” she gasped, squirming uselessly as he slid his tongue inside her.
“Don’ ask me questions when I’m busy,” he winked and sucked her clit into his mouth.
“Oh, fuck!” she shouted, raking her hands into her hair as she thrust against his tongue.
Oh, yes, Spike was in heaven. He’d dreamed of her sweet flavor, the feel of her gorgeous pussy gliding beneath his caresses and the sounds of her cries when he worshipped her the way he wanted to. But this time was significantly different because he knew she loved him and the power that knowledge gave him made his ardor skyrocket, if it were even possible, it made him love her more.
He lowered her onto the bed. Never stopping his sinful ministrations, he slowly inserted two greedy fingers inside her while he tapped her clit with the tip of his tongue, circled it, sucked it, and kissed it, smiled against her proudly when she came for the second time. It was a beautiful symphony that fell from her lips, sounds so sweet, words so precious that he doubled his efforts just to make it last a bit longer.
“God, I love you,” he said with a smile once he’d crawled over her, drinking in the image of her beneath him. Her eyes were twinkling with tenderness, her lips red and twitching as she tried to speak and failed, her cheeks wonderfully pink from euphoric bliss and he propped himself up on his elbows just to observe her in silent admiration.
“Do you need a minute?” he teased.
Her eyes were closed and a slow crawl of a grin spread across her face. “No, just basking.”
He was sliding his cock slowly against her folds and kissing her neck, waiting for her permission, although if she took any longer to give it, he might have to make a go of it and see what happened. “Can you bask while ‘m makin’ love to you?”
She sighed and opened her eyes, giggling at the desperate expression on his face. He looked as if he was going to burst if he wasn’t inside her soon. “Ok, but you have to kiss me a whole bunch.”
He smiled and pressed his lips to hers while he slowly slid inside to the hilt, both of them moaning in relief as if there was no greater sensation than being joined in this way. And there wasn’t. Nothing could compare, would ever compare to this. They’d both been aching for it for so long that once Spike moved with the first glide of his hips, tugging his cock away from her, they both gasped from the sensation and their dance began. He kissed her slow and sweet, clutching the sides of her face as he skillfully moved inside her, breaking away from her mouth to hiss as she squeezed her walls tightly around him.
“Didn’ do that with William, did you?” he leered at her.
“I didn’t want to hurt him,” she smiled and suddenly threw her head back with a breathy moan as he started circling his hips, grinding against her and stretching her to the limit with every powerful thrust of his cock. “And he…didn’t do that…”
He chuckled silkily, tempted by her wet and parted lips so he bent down to lick them before sucking each one into his mouth. “Hmm…what else can I do that he couldn’t?” he asked playfully and before she could respond, he hooked one arm beneath one of her legs and twisted her onto her side, sat on his knees to drive into her hard, held her ankle by his shoulder and slid one hand down her stomach to her clit and rubbed out a loud and raucous shout from his lover.
“Oh! My! God!”
He pounded her into the mattress so hard the headboard punched holes in the wall and he abruptly stopped, lowered her leg and turned her onto her back again. She was panting and swallowing gulps of air, looking at him dazedly and he bit his lip with an arrogant smirk and started moving again, slowly, lowering his body until it was completely covering hers.
“But I’d much rather do it this way tonight,” he said sweetly, kissing away her swooning moan as her arms linked around his neck and held him close. They’d done hard and fast so many times before, held competitions to see who could come up with the most creative positions but never had she allowed him to make love to her. She needed it as much as he did and the sentiment was so lovely, so pure, that she couldn’t hold back her tears, her joy, couldn’t stop kissing him while he touched her soul with every thrust of his hips.
“Buffy,” he rasped, breathing raggedly against her wet cheek, “I need…”
“Tell me,” she smiled, never knowing Spike to be at a loss for words.
“I need to come now, kitten. Fuck, I need it.”
She immediately squeezed around him and cried out as his hand came between them to bring her off with him, needing her to come too, and she whispered the words he’d longed to hear, kissed his sweet, trembling lips and clutched the muscles in his back as he thrust hard inside her. She bucked against him as she climaxed, her inner muscles clenching him, keeping him inside while they both found release. His eyes were on hers, drowsy and warm, their mouths centimeters apart, unable to move and not really wanting to anyway.
“I love you, Spike.”
“You bloody well better.”
They were lying naked on the bed, limbs wrapped around one another with goofy smiles on their faces and talking about what they were going to do next. Spike’s hand was splayed protectively over her stomach, still brimming with joy that they were going to have a baby. Speaking of a future together was so bizarre and yet so exciting at the same time because they actually could have a future.
“What about Mexico?”
“Nah, too sunny. Let’s go someplace where we can blend in a bit, pet.”
“Yeah, there’s the whole drinking water thing, too. Should we stay in the States, then?”
Spike kissed her shoulder. “Up to you. Could go visit the bit in Rome if you want.”
“Yeah,” she sighed, “but then again, I kind of want to be alone with you for a while. Dawn would smother you and I’d have to pry her loose to get any alone time.”
Spike smirked at her. “Jealous, are we?”
“Not jealous, possessive. That’s very different.”
“Glad you could clear that up for me.” She’d nuzzled against him and sighed softly, and Spike started thinking of things that didn’t really matter any more but he was too damn impulsive to let it slide. “Speakin’ of Rome…mind tellin’ me what you were doin’ with the Immortal?”
She rose up on one elbow and cocked an eyebrow. “The Who-tal?”
“Immortal. The bastard that seems to make all the ladies swoon. An’ he can’t dance to save his own ass, no matter what he told you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Spike sat up. “Bollocks! Andrew told me an’ Angel that you were dating the Immortal!”
She frowned for a minute as she tried to figure out what he was referring to and then started laughing, collapsing onto her pillows as she realized what an idiot Andrew had been. Spike stared at her, waiting for a response and she finally settled down long enough to say, “Andrew hadn’t quite picked up on the Buffy-isms, I guess.” She pulled Spike back down on the bed and soothed his grumpy posture with gentle kisses until he relaxed beside her.
“See, I’d gone to Rome to help Dawn get settled and Andrew set up an apartment for me while I was there. He’d been there too, handling the new crowd of slayers that had flown in for training. Anyway, a few of the girls and I were hanging out at Andrew’s before we went to some dance club for the night and they were talking about how Italy had the hottest guys. And I said something like, ‘yeah, if you’re into humans, go for it’ and Andrew got really curious so he started asking me all these questions about what I thought was attractive in the opposite sex. So I said, ‘I’m in love with the immortal,’ meaning ‘I only date the undead’. Because let’s face it, after you’ve had the kind of sex a vampire can give you, there’s no contest. Apparently, Andrew took it literally.”
Spike blinked slowly, inhaled and exhaled a steady breath of irritation. “Do me a favor.”
“What?”
“The next time you see that wanker, make sure you take his precious Star Wars dolls and toss ‘em in the nearest fire for me.” She giggled and lay on his chest, trying to calm him down when he was still on edge. “He told me you’d bloody moved on an’ I’d come all the way to Rome to find you!”
“You did?” she smiled sweetly and crawled over him, straddled his waist and kissed his angry forehead.
“Yeah,” he pouted, though the corners of his mouth were twitching with the promise of a grin. “Wanted to see you. Don’ know what I’d ‘ve done when I found you, but…had to see you.”
“Aww, poor baby,” she cooed and kissed him sweetly.
“But I’ve got you now,” he leered up at her, sliding his hands down her back to squeeze her rump.
“Yes, you do. So, where are you going to take me?”
“Why don’t we just drive an’ see what happens?”
“You mean, no plan? Just go?” She’d never done anything without a plan before, well, except when she ran away to L.A. after sending Angel to Hell, but look how that turned out. However, she was really getting used to the idea of not giving a crap about anything, especially if she had Spike with her.
He nodded and kissed her chin. “We’ll know when we get there, I suppose.”
She smiled blissfully and played with his hair that was wild and loose after it had finally dried. “I like that idea. Guess we’ll have to get a cab, huh?”
“Oh, no,” he waggled his eyebrows and flipped her onto her back, peppering her neck with kisses and making her giggle. “My girl travels in style.”
“You have a car?”
“No…but never underestimate my abilities to get what I want, pet.” He said this as he entered her, grinning in satisfaction.
“Evil.”
“You have no idea.”
The following afternoon, Giles was in a panic. No one had seen Buffy and their party had gathered in the hotel lobby, arguing over what they were going to do about it. Xander, who’d grown impatient because they were supposed to be leaving for the airport, walked to the front desk and asked the concierge if she’d checked out.
“Yes, Miss Summers checked out several hours ago.”
Xander nodded when his suspicions were confirmed, except for one thing. “Did she happen to have someone with her?”
“Yeah,” the concierge said after taking a moment to recall what had happened that morning. “Some man with white hair. I asked if they needed a cab but they said they had it covered.”
“Thanks,” he said kindly and leisurely walked back towards his friends, silently observing the chaos with a slow smile growing on his face.
“Angel must have done something with her,” Giles frowned.
“Maybe she just went for a walk,” a slayer offered, slumping in embarrassment at the incredulous looks she was given. “Sorry, just sayin’.”
“Did anyone see her after the battle?” Willow asked the group.
They all shook their heads dejectedly, except for Xander who’d found a nice, floral patterned recliner in the lobby and sat down, lacing his fingers behind his head in amusement.
“We could do a locator spell,” Giles continued, “after we send a few slayers to Angel’s office and see if she’s still there.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll get my bag,” Willow said as she walked towards the pile of luggage on a bell hop near the front door. It was then that a man ran into the foyer with a leather coat draped over his head.
Angel dropped his coat, scowling that he’d had to run in the sewers to avoid the daylight before he saw Giles and stormed over to him. “Someone stole one of my cars! Where’s Buffy?”
Xander started laughing and shook his head as he stood up again. He casually walked over to a bell boy and asked him to call a shuttle to take them to the airport.
“You mean you haven’t seen her?”
“No, she freaked out and left about thirty minutes after I took her to my office.”
“This is most unfortunate. We’ll have to find her immediately.”
“Guys,” Xander finally said as he’d walked over to them. They continued arguing, making plans to rescue Buffy, shouting about the inconvenience and so he said louder, “Guys!”
They finally turned towards him and he said authoritatively, “The shuttle will be here in a moment and I suggest we all wait outside.”
“You cannot possibly think that we’ll leave without her,” Giles frowned.
“I can, and I will. We all will. Wake up and face the music. Buffy’s gone.”
There was a series of gasping and sputtering and angry defiance and Xander sighed in irritation. “She’s gone, and we’re not going to screw this up for her now. She knows where to find us when she’s ready.”
Giles’ jaw tensed, Angel looked skeptical, Willow’s eyes widened once she put two and two together, the slayers didn’t seem to care as they just wanted to get the heck home and Xander beamed, glad he could do this one small thing for Buffy. She’d finally done something for herself, finally took advantage of the happiness she deserved, did it without a care in the world, and he’d be damned before he let anyone take that away from her.
Once realization set in with the watcher as to whom Buffy left with, he solemnly walked outside and waited for their shuttle, needing a moment by himself for quiet reflection. He was distressed that she felt she couldn’t come to her friends, to her watcher, and let them know where she was headed, hadn’t even left a note. But Giles supposed he would have filled her with reasons not to leave. In fact, he knew he would have, out of selfishness, out of love for the girl he thought of as his own daughter, not wanting her to grow out of needing him, if she ever did in the first place.
“You know,” Willow said to him when she’d suddenly joined him outside, “I bet she won’t even be gone more than a few days. She’ll come back.”
Giles smiled sadly and sat down on the edge of a cement wall outside the hotel. “Why would she?”
“Because she’s Buffy,” Willow said with a shrug of her shoulders. “She always comes back.”
“Maybe,” he whispered, looking up at the sun and squinting slightly.
“She will,” she said determinedly, even though there was a sliver of doubt found only in her expression. “And if she doesn’t, we’ll just go looking for her.”
“No, not this time,” he said with a crooked grin and stood as the shuttle pulled up. “Let’s get our things.”
Once they all boarded the plane, minus one slayer, Xander looked out the window and smiled reverently, saying a silent goodbye to his best friend and hoped he’d see her again one day.
But he wished, for her sake, that it wouldn’t be for a very, very long time.
The sun was shining bright, boasting its rays high in the cloudless sky, beating down onto a desert highway in the middle of nowhere; a highway whose only occupant was a speeding black Viper with reinforced sun-resistant windows, a car that was once a favorite of a vampire cursed with a soul and now belonged, rather illegally, to a newly souled vampire and his slayer, both of them smiling with excitement, anxious and overjoyed that there was only a long road of possibilities in front of them with no absolutes.