Chapter Six
Mark walked out of the grocery store and pulled out a cigarette. The light breeze lifted the ends of his hair, making it dance around his sharp features. Taking a deep drag of smoke, he hefted the bag higher on his arm and turned, not seeing the small woman until he had knocked her down. Cigarette forgotten, he immediately reached out to steady her, and missed.
“Oh, shit. Are you alright?” He asked, putting his bag down and reaching out to help her to her feet. The tiny redhead looked up at him, a flustered smile on her face. Her pale skin was slightly flushed from the hot Arizona sun, and a light sheen of sweat had her T-shirt clinging to her body. He pulled her fluidly to her feet, and smiled down at her. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.” He said, staring into the greenest eyes he’d ever seen.
“No, that’s okay. I was playing tourist girl and not watching where I was going.” Willow looked up at the man, and found her self mesmerized by his smile. His dark eyes studied her upturned face, and his long, black hair was being teased by the warm breeze. She was amazed by how tall he was, the top of her head barely coming to his chest.
“Not from around here, then.” She shook her head, and looked around nervously. “Well, my name is Mark Lynch, and may I be the first to welcome you to San Rios.” He smiled that disarming smile again, and Willow placed her tiny hand into his much larger one.
“Willow Rosenberg. Thank you. It’s hotter here, than I expected. A lot hotter than California.” She said, glancing away again. God, he was hot, she thought. He held himself with confidence, and he had an almost predatory air about him. But in contrast, he smiled easily and his eyes were kind. Willow remembered that it had been a long time since Oz had left. She’d been single ever since. And this guy was making her remember just what it was like to want to be with someone.
“California, huh. Well, the big difference is, we don’t have all that smog and pollution clogging up our skies.” He said conversationally. He rocked back on the heels of his boots, fishing in his pocket for another cigarette. At the quirk of her brow at the smoldering tube, he grinned ruefully. “I meant from factories.”
“Uh, huh. That’s okay, I’m sure the cactus and the buzzards will forgive you.” He chuckled, the sound sending a thrill down her spine.
“So, who do I thank for bringing you to our fair city?” He asked, forgetting he had told Anne he would meet her at her house for lunch.
“A friend.” Willow answered, a bit hastily. One dark brow shot up, but he didn’t press. Wasn’t his business.
“Well, then you have to send your friend my appreciation.” Willow couldn’t believe he was flirting with her. And she was liking it. Just as she was about to say something, hopefully witty and cute, she heard her name being called. Sighing heavily and rolling her eyes, she turned to watch Xander come up to them at a slow trot. He eyed Mark suspiciously, and laid a possessive hand on her arm. Willow glared at him and tried to shrug him off inconspicuously.
“Will, I’ve been waiting for you.” Xander said, tearing his eyes away from the tall Indian.
“I’m afraid that’s my fault. Nearly ran the poor girl over.” Mark interjected, instantly disliking the brunette man. Xander barely spared him a glance.
“I think I’ve got a lead, let’s go.” He said, then started to walk away, trying to pull her with him. Willow gave up on inconspicuous and finally yanked her hand out of his grasp.
“I’ll be right there.” She hissed, her eyes telling him to get lost. Xander shook his head and stalked to the truck parked by the curb a few feet away. Shooting another glare at him for good measure, she turned back to Mark, an apologetic look on her face. “I have to go.” she said, with a hint of regret in her voice. Mark crushed the cigarette out before extending his hand again. She took it, and felt an electric shock jolt up her arm, leaving little tingles in its wake.
“It was nice to meet you, Ms. Rosenberg. I hope I’ll get to see you again before you leave.” His deep voice resonated over her, heating up her already burning skin. She smiled at him again, reluctantly pulling her hand from his.
“I’d like that.” When he grinned, she felt herself struggling for breath.
“If that’s the case, my band is playing at the bar over on Fifth tonight. If you would like to come.”
“I’ll definitely try to make it.” She said, starting to back away. With another smile, she turned and joined Xander in the truck. What was it with her and musicians?, she thought as she buckled her seat belt. She sent him a final wave and a smile as Xander pulled out into traffic.
~*~*~
“You’re late.” Anne said as he walked inside, a huge grin on his face. She was sitting on the couch, painting her toenails. He dropped the bag on the table, and sank down next to her.
“Sorry, but I got held up by an angel.” Anne rolled her eyes, but she smiled at the almost dreamy expression on his face.
“Uh, huh.” She screwed the cap on her nail polish and leaned back on the cushions. Rubbing her tired eyes, she stretched.
“Tired?” He asked, filing the image of the pretty little redhead away for later perusal.
“Yeah.” She said, resting her head on his shoulder.
“How’d it go?”
“A lot better than I expected. He wants to be a part of his life. Of course, he tried to tell me that I had to quit the Glamour Factory.” Anne snorted at that. Mark laughed, thinking he would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that.
“Can’t say I blame him, sweets.”
“You do remember that you work there too?” She asked. Shifting her head to glare at him.
“Yeah, but it’s not somewhere I would want my sister or my mother working, and especially not the mother of my child.”
“You don’t have a sister.” Mark quirked a brow at her and pursed his lips. She had to giggle at him.
“You know what I mean. It’s not the nicest of places, and it was one thing when you were washing dishes or waitressing. Dancing, and that other stuff, is a whole different sort of thing.”
“I don’t do that ‘other stuff’, Mark.” She ground out, standing up and stalking into the kitchen.
“I know that. But you work at a place that allows it.” He replied, following her.
“So do you.” The refrigerator was closed with a slam.
“I’m a guy.” he said with a shrug. Anne threw her hands up in the air, and gave a frustrated sigh.
“Ugh, of all the chauvinistic bullshit.” She spat, opening the bottle of water with a sharp twist. He bit back the chuckle, not feeling the need to get his ass kicked before going to play that night. “You know, you two would probably get along great. Kick back on the couch with a couple of beers, cigarettes hanging from your mouths. Watch football or whatever and converse about your very Victorian attitudes. Of course he has the advantage of BEING from the Victorian age, but, I’m sure you could overcome that hurdle.” she snapped. Laughter danced in his eyes as he looked at her.
“Sorry, Annie. That’s just the way of the world.” He walked over to her and tilted her chin up to look at him. “Maybe you ought to think about finding a new job.” When she started to sputter indignantly, he cut her off. “NOT just because us Victorian-thinking men think you should, but also because you do have a young son to think about.”
“I know that Mark. That’s why I started dancing in the first place. Being the chosen one doesn’t exactly guarantee job security.” She glared up at him, her hazel eyes shooting sparks.
“Look, all I’m saying, is that if he’s willing, let him foot the bill and go back to school. Find something that you really want to do, not just something that pays the bills.” Anne sighed, feeling her anger seep out of her. He was right, she knew. She hated her job, wasn’t overly thrilled with the hours, even though she used to slay much later into the night than she did dancing. Matt was going to school, and Spike was willing to pay for them, now would be the perfect time. But part of her didn’t like the thought of sitting back and letting him take over. She had been doing it on her own so long, that she didn’t know if she could adjust to sharing the burden. Seeing that she was beginning to agree, Mark decided to back off. “Just think about it, okay.” Watching her nod, he smiled at the sullen look on her face. “Good. Now, I gotta go. Wish you could come tonight.” He said as they walked to the door.
“Yeah, me too. But, you apparently have a new groupie in waiting. You won’t even miss me.” She told him with a chuckle. He reached up and cupped her face, a sad smile on his lips.
“Nah, that’s not true. Nobody could replace you.”
“Somebody will, and you deserve it.” Anne returned his smile, and leaned up to brush a kiss across his mouth. “Now, go. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Well, I think that leaves my evening fairly open.” He told her with a smirk, grabbing his bag and heading out the door before she could hit him.
“You jerk.” she called after him, sticking her tongue out for effect.
His laughter was all he answered as he pulled out of her driveway with a wave.
~*~*~
Oh, she was so going to kill that vampire. They wouldn’t have to worry about how Matt was going to react to meeting his father, because said father was going to be dust. Anne pressed the gas pedal just a little harder, ignoring the honks of the other drivers around her. *How dare he?* her mind screamed. Her fingers fisted on her steering wheel, the strength behind her grip leaving indentations of her digits on the heavy plastic. With a squeal of rubber, she tore into the Days Inn parking lot, coming to a screeching stop next to the DeSoto. Stomping out of the car, she stalked to the door and proceeded to pound on it.
“SPIKE! Open this fucking door right now you peroxided rat!” she yelled. She didn’t notice the looks of the people walking into the office to check in, or the doors opening and people peering out to see the obviously crazy brunette trying to beat the door down. When it swung open, she stormed in, ripping it out of his hand and slamming it closed.
“Well, kitten. What brings. . .fuck!” he spat when her fist flew into his nose. Staggering back a step he recovered in time to block the next blow.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” She sent a kick to his midsection, cursing when he blocked her again. She was shaking with anger, and her churning emotions were causing her to be careless. When she took another swing, he caught her wrist, spinning her around to trap her against him and then knocked her feet out from under her, sending them both to the floor. They landed with an ‘oomph’, with him pinning her to the rough, beige carpet.
“Now, wanna tell me why we’re playing kick the Spike?” He already knew, but he figured he’d play dumb for a bit.
“You know damn well why. YOU GOT ME FIRED, YOU ASSHOLE!” She yelled, struggling to get free.
“Tsk, pet. What sort of language is that to use?” He asked casually, savoring the squirming woman under him. When the evidence of his pleasure pressed intimately against her buttocks, Anne reared up and finally managed to toss him off of her. He landed on the floor a foot away, but they were soon both up and facing each other again.
“Don’t try the innocent act on me, Spike. It’s so not going to work. How could you do that? You can’t just waltz back into my life and start taking over. It doesn’t work like that.” She took a step forward, arms crossed over her chest, eyes blazing.
“I told you, you weren’t going back there.” He growled in return.
“Fuck you. You’re not my father, or my lover. You have no right. . .” He hauled her against him, his own blue orbs flashing gold.
“That’s right, kitten. I’m not your father. But as to the second, I’m afraid you’re sadly mistaken. I have been and I will be your lover until you die.”
“God, stalker much?” She snapped back, ignoring the trill of excitement that coursed up her spine at his claim.
“Don’t you get it, Buffy? I’m here. To stay. And I won’t allow other men to touch you. Period. Do you know how crazy it made me that first night I saw you go into the back with that yuppie wanker? I could smell the sex from fifty feet away. It was all I could do not to go back there and kill that bastard. And you for doing it.” Her eyes blazed at the implication he made.
“I’ve never. . .I’m not a whore. I haven’t been with anybody since. . .” Anne stopped, looking away from him. He wouldn’t let her drop it though.
“Since when, Buffy?” He growled, pulling her closer. She refused to meet his eyes. He shook her a bit, trying to force her to look up. “Since. When?”
“Since that day with you. Are you happy, now? Does that soothe your male ego?” She glared at him from under her lashes, her anger quickly being replaced by something else. He was pressed tightly against her, his mouth mere inches from hers. He searched her face, seeing the truth of her words.
“Neither have I.” Her eyes widened at his admission in the second before his mouth descended on hers. Desire, fury, frustration, and something else poured from him and into her as his lips plundered hers. Heat suffused them both the second their lips touched. She kissed him back with everything she’d had locked up inside since that day in the mansion. His fingers tangled in the length of her hair, her fingers fisted in his. The kiss was passionate, and violent, as they each branded the other.
They were both panting heavily when they pulled apart, arms still entwined around the other.
“I want you, Buffy. For five damn years I’ve wanted you.” He told her, brushing his lips over her cheek. She shivered with the intensity of his words, her own inner thoughts mirroring them. But, somewhere in the back of her mind, reasoning started to kick in, and she started to pull away. Reluctantly, he let her go, sensing her need to distance herself, physically, if not mentally.
“I want you too.” She admitted once she was seated on the bed. When he took a step towards her, she held a hand up, stilling him. “But, that can’t be all it’s about. We have a child, Spike. We can’t rule whatever this is between us with hormones. I won’t have him hurt because we can’t control our libidos.” She said, running a hand through her hair.
“Tell me what you want from me, Buffy.” He said, sitting on the other bed and grabbing his cigarettes off the nightstand. Once he lit it, his eyes returned to hers, their color close to black with his want for her.
“Stop looking at me like that for one, or we’ll never make it out of this room.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” He teased, trying to pull in his raging lust. She just huffed in response.
“You can’t come in and try to control me, Spike. I’ve been taking care of Matt and myself for a long time now. I don’t appreciate you getting me fired.” Her words carried an edge of anger and hurt, and he was suddenly sorry for his actions.
“I’m sorry, Buffy. I just couldn’t stand the thought of you there, doing that.”
“I told you I never did that…” she began, this time he held up his hand to stop her,
“I know that. Your ’employer’ made it very clear that you didn’t. You’re better than that place.” He finished, taking a deep drag from his cigarette.
“Yeah, well, for the record. I was considering taking you up on your offer, and maybe going back to school, or something.” She told him with a half smile. “But, that doesn’t excuse you for what you did.” She sent him a glare, and was met with his disarming grin. Finding it infectious, she grinned back. “You better make sure you’re ready for this, because I have a house payment, a car payment, AND utility bills that need paying. Not to mention little things like food, and clothes.”
“Don’t worry about it, kitten. I’ve got plenty of money.” He said, crushing out his cigarette.
“Do I even want to know how?” When all he did was grin, she dropped her head into her hands and groaned.
“The crime was done long ago, before you were born. I’m just good with making it multiply.” He said, wagging his eyebrows. She laughed, feeling the rest of her anger drain out of her.
“Do we have an agreement? No more trying to be all control freak?” He nodded, holding out his hand. With a laugh, she took at and they shook on it. When he tried to tug her to him, she resisted. “Oh no, lusty. That’s not gonna happen.”
“Why not? I thought we were all made up.” He said with a pout. Anne’s eyes widened at the unexpected look, and she found herself giggling again. He liked the sound, so different from that day, and he exaggerated the look even more to get her to do it again.
“We are all made up, you dork. But, we need to see if this real, and not just sex. We already know that we do that well.”
“No bloody shit.” He said, causing her to scrunch her nose up at him.
“However,” she continued, ignoring him. “We need to see if we can do the rest well.”
“Alright, luv. How do we start?” He linked his fingers loosely through hers, and gave her his full attention.
“A date.” He blinked, not sure if he heard her right.
“A what?”
“A date. You know, you take me somewhere, pay for everything then drop me off at home with a chaste kiss at the door.” She said the last part with a gleam in her eye. He grumbled under his breath at that. She smiled at his scowl. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Since my sitter’s already paid up for the night, my friend Mark is playing at the club over on Fifth. Wanna go? I’d love for you to meet him.” Biting back the jealousy that surged forward at the mention of her friend’s name, he gave her a tight smile.
“Sure.” Then he gave her a horrified look. “He doesn’t play that ‘my women done left and my dog died crap’, does he?” He said in a mock southern accent. Anne raised an eyebrow, offering him a coy smile.
“Some.” At his groan, she chuckled, standing and pulling him to his feet. “Come on, fang face. Let’s get you decent so you can take me out. I’m hungry, so you can feed me too.” She turned towards his bag and started rummaging through.
“Hey, what are you about?” he asked, trying to stop her.
“Trying to see if you have anything with color in here.” She said with a scowl. Buried underneath the mountains of black t-shirts and jeans she found a dark blue button down. “Well, this will have to do.” She muttered, throwing it at him. He caught it, and sneered at her. She yanked out a pair of clean jeans and socks, noticing with some interest that there wasn’t a pair of boxers or briefs in the entire bag. Of course, they had undressed so quickly that day, she couldn’t remember if he had on any then. “Here, go get dressed. I have to call Molly and let her know that I’m not at work.” Looking down at the clothes in his hand, he growled softly and stormed into the bathroom. With a smile at his bare back, she picked up the phone and dialed.
~*~*~
Two doors down, another argument was starting, just as Anne and Spike’s was finishing.
“Dammit, Will. We’re here to find Buffy, NOT pick up long haired musicians.” Xander exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. Willow’s mouth formed into a hard line as she sat on the bed. “I don’t see why you can’t do the spell again. I so don’t believe that she would be working as a STRIPPER.” The word was said with such disdain that she cringed. Xander had apparently spoken to the clerk at the small drugstore in town, who had told him that a girl fitting Buffy’s description worked at the strip club off of 10.He had promptly dismissed it.
“I told you, Xander. You’re lucky that it got us this far. She obviously hadn’t used that brush in years. The hair was old. And what does it matter if I try to have a little fun while we’re here? He was nice.”
“Uh, huh. Don’t you remember what happened with Oz?” He said, glaring at her. Her eyes went wide at that, anger making her green orbs flash black. Struggling to calm down so she didn’t do something irrational, like turn him into a toad, she stood.
“Of course I remember what happened. But that doesn’t mean that’s going to happen again. And you need to chill out. In case YOU forgot, this little obsession with Buffy is what made Cordy break up with you.” She snapped. He grimaced at the reminder, but he didn’t back down.
“It’s not an obsession. I’m just trying to make sure she’s okay. She needs her friends.” Willow was just short of having enough. With a wave of her hand, and a quite word slipping from her lips, Xander was asleep. With a sigh, she levitated him to the bed. She then went over to him and grabbed his keys. She really hated using magic for selfish means, but he was seriously starting to pluck her last nerve. She loved him, she really did. But he could be the most single minded person she knew. She really needed to get away from him for awhile.
With a sigh, she took the map off the table, then walked out into the night.