Chapter 14
With a contented little murmur, Elizabeth drifted back into consciousness, snuggling deeper into the warm arms that held her. They tightened around her in response, pulling her even more firmly against the strong chest that was spooned against her back.
For a moment, everything was perfect.
And then Elizabeth’s eyes jerked open in alarm. Wait a minute! What warm arms?!
She had a brief panic attack before she noticed that she was, in fact, still dressed, as was the man behind her. The initial fear fading, memories from the night before slowly came back to her. Her and Spike going out to the lake, laughing, talking, having fun, and then finally coming back here so that she could bandage his wounds. The conversation they’d started up about their parents and their futures that had gone on past one, two, three, four, five in the morning. Her yawning and shivering from weariness and both of them jokingly suggesting every so often that she should really go back to her room so that they could both sleep. But then neither of them wanting the evening to end, so they’d stay and talk just a little bit longer…
With a satisfied little smile, she remembered Spike finally pulling her under the blankets with him – just for warmth’s sake, of course – and the two of them lying in his bed, side-by-side as their conversation continued. Fragments of their conversation were coming back to her now…
Spike informing her that he didn’t bother to protest that his parents still called him ‘William’ after his dad’s “I don’t bloody well care if you go about calling yourself the Queen of England, but no parent anywhere will ever be able to address their son as ‘Spike’ without grimacing!” speech.
In a moment of honesty that she’d never even shared with Willow and Tara, she confessed that she was afraid that her father would leave her altogether if she didn’t meet up with his expectations.
And, finally, just as the sun began shinning through the curtains, Spike had lain his head down on the pillow and shut his eyes “just for a quick rest.”
Apparently they’d both fallen asleep…in each other’s arms.
Elizabeth managed to turn on the narrow bed so that she was facing him. He let out the first murmurs of waking as his head found a new pillow in the curve of her neck, his arms still clasping her to him tightly.
“Spike,” she whispered softly, gently stroking his hair. “You awake?”
“Mmm,” he hummed sleepily before letting out an impressive yawn against her throat. “Mmm,” this was murmured with a frown, “what time is it, luv?”
She glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand. “One,” she said with a grimace.
“In the mornin’?” he inquired hopefully.
“Yeah, the sun shines in the middle of the night now,” she teased lightly.
“Humph,” he grumbled, sliding up so that his head lay beside hers on the pillow, his face only inches from hers, “guess who’s grumpy in the mornin’s?”
“Hmm,” she agreed with a little smile, “guess who has bed-hair in the mornings?” Her fingers toyed with the platinum curls that had transformed into a tangled mess over the night.
He groaned. “Not like you’re much better,” he countered with a little smirk.
“Mmm,” she agreed, patting down her hair and sitting up as she did so.
“Goin’ somewhere, luv?” he asked, instantly bereft.
“Yeah,” she agreed, “to do all the homework I was supposed to do today.”
He batted one hand in the air dismissively. “Homework’s overrated,” he insisted. “Come back here. You’re all warm an’ comfortable…” There was a little forlorn tone in his voice.
She gave him an apologetic smile. “I really do have stuff to do,” she insisted. “I shouldn’t have stayed up so late.”
“’S Saturday,” he insisted firmly. “You’ve still got plenty ‘f time for work.” One arm wrapped around her waist, and he pulled her back to him, his cheek gently nuzzling her thigh.
“Yeah,” she said wistfully, stroking his hair a couple more times before snapping to attention. “I mean, no.”
He gave her a pleading little look.
“I have a bitch pre-lab from hell,” she explained, “and Willow’s not going to be around tomorrow to help me with it.”
He let out a weary sigh and sat up as well. “At least let me walk you out then?” he requested with a bemused smile.
“It’s all of, like, five feet,” she laughed.
“’S worth it,” he decided, extricating himself from his blankets and walking over to the door.
She followed him with a nervous little blush, her eyes studiously observing the floor. “I, yeah,” she brushed aside an errant lock of hair as she lingering in the doorway, reluctant to leave. “I had a really good time,” she finally managed to get out before slapping herself in the forehead. “That was idiotic,” she said apologetically. “Sorry.”
He chuckled and leaned back against the other side of the doorframe. “Yeah, well I did ‘ave a good time, so ‘m not complainin’,” he countered with his usual cocky smirk.
She gave him an annoyed eye roll. “You have got to be the most annoying, obnoxious…” she began.
“Guess this isn’t a good time to ask you out tonight then, is it?” he teased.
Her eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed. “Uh, tonight?” she said with a delighted little smile. “Yeah! I mean, sure,” she tried to make the last statement sound cool and disinterested and failed miserably.
“Thought we could maybe catch dinner an’ a movie?” he asked hopefully.
“Great!” she said, smiling up at him.
“Unless, I mean, you jus’ wanna come back here an’ sleep with me again,” he teased, a wicked glint in his eyes.
“Pig,” she batted his arm fondly. “Ooh, and did I mention infuriating and rude and arrogant and…” She leaned in close up against his chest.
“Pet?” he asked with that shy little smile.
“Yeah?” she looked up into those beautiful eyes of his.
“Y-You had a good time?” he asked nervously.
“A really good time,” she insisted before rising up on her toes and, gently, briefly, brushing her lips up against his warm, soft ones.
She pulled away almost immediately, but then he caught her roughly about the waist, spun them around so that her back was pressed to the wall of the hallway, and proceeded to give her the best kiss of her life.
She moaned against his demanding lips, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer… His tongue flicked out to trace the line between her lips, encouraging her to part them for him. She gladly did so, whimpering when his tongue plunged deep inside her mouth, tasting, caressing, making love…
Her own tongue stroked his languidly, savoring the taste of smoke and chocolate and purely masculine Spike. He made a growling sound against her lips in response, pressing her more firmly against the wall, lifting her up…
Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, holding him to her, surrounding his body completely as her hands explored the strong lines of his back…
The kiss probably could have gone on forever if breathing hadn’t been an issue. Reluctantly, Spike finally pulled back from the fiery kiss, panting desperately for air.
For a long while, the only sounds in the hallway were his pants together with Elizabeth’s ragged gasps. Slowly, he let her slide back down his body so that she stood on her shaky feet once more.
Lips still swollen from the passion that had just blossomed between them, Elizabeth looked up into the cerulean depths of his eyes and uttered just one word.
“Wow.”
He gave her a smirk, although it was only a shadow of his usual one; the aftereffects of their kiss still had him slightly stunned. “’ll pick you up at six then?” he inquired.
She nodded dumbly, still out of breath. “It’s a date,” she agreed.
He gave her a wide, genuinely happy smile at that. “See you then, luv,” he said, brushing back that one persistently errant lock of her hair before he vanished back into his room.
Elizabeth stared at the closed door for a time, still – unbelievably – panting, before she turned to go down the hall…and quickly noticed that they’d had an audience.
“Way to go, E!” Faith said with a wide grin on her face. “Had a nice, active evening, I see…”
Elizabeth flushed slightly. “Believe it or not,” she confessed, “that was our first kiss.”
Faith laughed. “And you’re not rushing back for seconds right now?” she teased. “Because that was a doozy.”
“It was nice enough,” Elizabeth shrugged, trying to maintain her cool in the situation.
“Uh-huh,” Faith gave her a disbelieving look. “Only ‘nice’?”
Elizabeth didn’t waver from her position.
“If you say so,” Faith shrugged, before a nasty little smile crossed her face. “Oh, and Elizabeth?” she added, right before closing her door again.
“Yeah?” Elizabeth turned from where she’d continued to walk down the hall.
“Your room’s that way,” Faith pointed in the opposite direction Elizabeth had been walking, giggling slightly as she closed the door.
“Oh, yeah,” Elizabeth’s half-zoned mind finally remembered where her room was, and she turned back down the hallway.
Willow looked up at her in relief when she walked in. “Oh, thank the goddess,” she put a hand to her heart. “You didn’t come back last night, and at first I thought you were with Riley, but then I saw…” She gestured the Elizabeth’s bed that still held her discarded white dress, Kleeneces, and chocolate – sure signs of the dumped woman. “A-And I thought… Are you all right?” Willow asked worriedly.
“Better than all right,” Elizabeth said with the beginnings of a giddy little smile on her face. “And you’ll never guess where I spent the night…”
* * *
To say that Elizabeth had had difficulty concentrating that evening would be an understatement. In fact, Willow had had to snap her fingers in front of Elizabeth’s face several times when the ability to do simple multiplication had failed her. Willow didn’t seem to mind, however, giggling and teasing Elizabeth about “sleeping with a guy on the first date.” And, eventually and quite amazingly, the pre-lab had gotten done.
With nothing better to do for the next two hours, Elizabeth had alternated between trying hopelessly to focus on her history book long enough to actually read more than one sentence and rummaging through her wardrobe, reevaluating whether the dress she’d chosen for tonight would be the best one.
When Spike finally knocked on her door at 5:35 – apparently, he couldn’t wait, either – she finally discovered the reason why she’d instinctively liked the azure blue dress she and Anya had found while shopping last weekend.
Spike had made this little gulping motion and had had a rather difficult time keeping his eyes off of her the entire way to the restaurant.
The restaurant itself had turned out to be just a small little Greek place with only half a dozen or so tables. Their little corner table was small enough that their knees brushed beneath it, but neither of them minded. In fact, with a surprising bout of playfulness, Elizabeth had slipped one of her shoes off and run her toe languidly down the back of his calf. He had practically choked to death on his water in response, and she proceeded to thump him on the back and laugh.
But the food had been exquisite, and the company had been even more exquisite.
Elizabeth really had known the name of the movie when they’d entered the campus cinema; she was sure of it. However, halfway through the previews, she’d lost interest when she found something much more fascinating to occupy her time. Really, that soft, pale skin along Spike’s throat had just been calling to her. And who was she to refuse?
Spike bit back a moan when her warm lips descended on his throat. But, with a little smile, he decided to just keep on trying to watch the movie and see what she would do.
Quickly frustrated by the severe lack of kisses she was receiving in response, Elizabeth resorted to dirty tactics, running her hand right up and down his thigh.
Within a minute, Spike was squirming in his seat, trying to find some way to loosen the sudden tightness of his pants. He cast an annoyed look over at Elizabeth, and she responded with a devilish smile.
His face mirrored her expression, and her eyes widened in alarm when he suddenly pounced upon her, his fingers in her hair and his lips forcefully upon hers.
By the time the movie was over, neither of them had any idea what it was about. In fact, one of the students who helped run the place had to tap Spike on the shoulder and bemusedly inform the startled couple that the movie had ended. Elizabeth knew she should have been embarrassed, but making out with Spike in the dark like a couple of horny high-school students had been so much fun that she didn’t care.
They kept their arms wrapped around each other the entire walk back to the dorm, occasionally stopping to steal a quick kiss. Elizabeth sighed against the crook of his neck and breathed in his musky scent as they reached the top of the staircase. She didn’t think she’d ever been this happy, and she knew she’d never just let herself go and gotten washed up this much in the passion before.
“I get to come in, right?” Elizabeth toyed with the soft white hair at the nape of his neck as he unlocked the door.
“Mmm,” he agreed, giving her a quick, open-mouthed kiss on the lips, “was hopin’ you’d say that…”
What inevitably would’ve become another make-out fest was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Willow and Tara in the hallway. Tara instantly broke out giggling at the sight of the two of them so wrapped up in each other, but Willow raised a demanding eyebrow.
“You haven’t been drinking again, have you?” she demanded of Spike sternly, taking in the slightly glazed look in his eyes.
“No,” he quickly shook his head, expression turning from lust-filled to downright serious instantly. “Just enjoyin’ natural highs…” he added with a sly wink, gesturing for Elizabeth to enter.
She managed a little blush at getting caught right when they were going back to his room, and Willow and Tara both giggled now that Willow had made sure there was nothing to worry about.
“Be mindful of the thin walls!” Tara couldn’t resist calling after them. “I’m sure Xander can hear everything you do in there!”
Elizabeth and Spike both blushed and closed the door behind them. “What do they think?” Elizabeth demanded, sitting on the edge of his bed and removing her shoes before slipping under the covers. “That we’re just going to leap in bed together?”
Spike couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of the statement given the current position she was in. “Yeah, ‘cause we’re obviously not doin’ that,” he teased, kicking away his own boots before crawling in beside her.
Elizabeth shifted until she was comfortable in his arms before mock-pouting. “I meant the naked, sweaty kind of jumping into bed,” she clarified, “not the cuddly, necking, ‘rapidly running around second base’ kind of jumping into bed.”
“Oh, so necking’s allowed then?” Spike teased, leaning in to taste the soft hollow of her throat.
“Mmm,” she moaned softly, her hands finding his back and slowly tracing the line of his spine up and down. Cautiously, she untucked his t-shirt and let the fingers of one hand slip up beneath it, finally feeling the smooth, muscled expanse that had called to her so often in the past.
He let out a little groan at the feel of his hot little hands on his feverish skin and began slowly petting her in response, his hand trailing up and down her side, just barely missing the swell of her breast on each upstroke. His touch was so light against the soft fabric of her dress that it was almost ephemeral – an electric charge that raced through her nerves without physical form.
“Mmm, Spike…” she whispered against his ear.
He turned from where his teeth were doing absolutely wondrous things to her earlobe in response, looking right into her hazel eyes. He brushed his lips against her kiss-swollen ones once before backing off to look at her again. “Yeah, luv?” he said with a little smile.
“Any chance,” she asked shyly, “that the shirt can go?”
He chuckled at that. “Want to ogle my manliness, huh, pet?” he teased.
“Yup,” she said matter-of-factly, allowing the P to make a popping sound in her mouth as she said it.
His cheeks reddened slightly in response, and he gave her another quick kiss. “’ll do it if you will,” he finally requested.
“Mmm-mmm,” Elizabeth shook her head. “See, that wouldn’t be fair since all I’m wearing is this dress.”
“So?” he gave her a lascivious little smirk.
She rolled her eyes up at him. “So, I would be pretty much completely naked, and you would be only half-naked,” she informed him. “Grossly unfair.”
“Could lose the slacks too, if you wanted,” he teased, rolling his tongue up beneath his teeth.
“Given the goings on in your pants during that movie, I’d say keeping the zipper up is a good idea for tonight,” Elizabeth joked back just as mercilessly.
He sulked for a minute before a sudden light went on behind his eyes. “How ‘bout we stick to my original deal,” he offered, “but you get to flip right over onto your stomach an’ then ‘ll give you a full back massage…”
Elizabeth licked her lips. “Deal,” she agreed instantly, reaching for the hem of her dress.
He stilled her hand. “Can I?”
“Only if I can first,” she decided.
He nodded, and she sat up beside him, her hands quickly moving to the loosened hem of his shirt. She slowly slid her fingers up underneath it, tracing the strong muscular lines as she did so. He let out a sound halfway between a moan and a howl in response, and a purely feminine smile crossed her face at the effect she had on him. And then an even wider one when his shirt fell to the floor, and she finally got to touch that chest she’d been dreaming about for so long.
He hissed at the feel of her tongue on his flesh, its rough caresses causing his own muscles to quiver beneath it. He let his own hands slip beneath her dress, pushing it up to her waist just as her mouth latched onto one flat, male nipple, twisting it gently between her teeth.
His hips thrust up into hers in involuntary response, and they pulled back for a second, both their eyes wide.
“Um, sorry,” he flushed apologetically at the quite obvious bulge her actions had created.
She gave him a smile and a quick kiss. “It’s OK,” she assured him. “Nice to know exactly what I need to do if I ever want instant gratification,” she teased.
“For you, tha’s pretty much anything,” he joked back before pulling her dress up over her head.
Now it was her turn to blush. “Um, yeah…” She quickly lay down on the bed on her stomach, brushing her blond locks all over one shoulder to give him better access to her back.
He scootched over alongside her before slowly kneading into her muscles, starting at the base of her spine just above the waistline of her little black panties.
She let out soft, little murmurs as his skilled hands quickly turned all her bones to Jell-O. A sense of lazy contentment passed over her, making her feel safe and warm, like the world had turned entirely to sweet honey… “God, how do you do that?” she gasped in awe.
“’S a skill,” he said with a wry grin before leaning over to whisper right in her ear. “’ve just got…the touch, luv…”
“Hmm…” she couldn’t help but agree, a very naughty voice in the back of her head wondering what a frontal massage from him would feel like…not to mention an internal one… “Spike?” she whispered lazily, enjoying the easy comfort she had with this man.
“Yeah, pet?” he asked curiously.
“Wanna play a game?” she suggested.
“Sure,” he shrugged. “What is it?”
She turned over onto her back, pulling the blanket over her chest as she did so. “We ask each other questions,” she explained, sitting up so that her back was against the wall. “But you have to answer whatever question the other person asks right after they do. The point is that, well, we both know more about ourselves than the other person knows, so we know what questions they should ask, right?” She was babbling a bit but didn’t really care. After all, she was a bit nervous about what she wanted to tell him.
He didn’t seem mind her babbling, however. He slipped under the blanket as well and sat beside her against the wall. “OK, kitten,” he agreed, planting a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder.
“Great,” she gave him a nervous little smile, “so I’ll go first… Why don’t you drink?”
“I take it these aren’t gonna be easy questions, huh?” he teased before sighing and leaning his head back against the wall. “Last year I got dumped real bad,” he finally began. “Like, ‘cheated on me, fucked with my head every way she could, tried to make me as miserable as possible’ kinda dumped. An’…I din’t really handle it too gracefully. Quickly figured out that alcohol made the problems go away, an’ went straight off the deep end.”
She found his hand beneath the blanket and gave it a reassuring little squeeze.
He gave her a grateful little smile in response. “Turned into somethin’ of a drunk, got myself into all sorts of trouble both academic and otherwise…”
She fingered the scar on his eyebrow curiously.
“Yeah, like that,” he agreed with a sigh. “Eventually, got off the stuff, got my friends and family to keep me off ‘f it – and in a serious way, not in a ‘yeah, keep pesterin’ me to quit smoking’ way.” He gave her a little smile. “Haven’t touched the stuff in over six months now.”
She gave him a quick kiss in response. “I still beat you,” she informed him.
He gave her a curious look. “AA meetin’s or what?”
She winced. “Never drank much,” she explained to him, “just, y’know, casually…at parties.”
He nodded for her to continue.
“So, at our senior prom, my ex manages to sneak in some liquor,” she wrapped her arms around herself as the images of that night played before her mind’s eye. “Well, all the ‘popular’ kids have to drink it, of course, so I just go along with them, accept the glass from my ex without thinking twice…” She took a deep breath and blinked back the tears in her eyes. “It took me about ten minutes to realize that he’d…put something in the drink…”
“Oh, god…” Spike’s face looked white as a sheet when he realized what she was saying.
“Yeah,” she managed something halfway between a sob and a laugh, “one of those date-rape drugs you always hear about. It was pretty scary – I mean, I could see what was happening around me, but it was really fuzzy, y’know? Like I had no control over my body.”
Her grip on his hand was practically bruising by now, but he didn’t even think to let go.
“So, he drags me out into the hallway and forces me down onto my knees and starts to, y’know, unzip, and I can’t do anything about it.” She actually broke into a sob at this point, and instantly his arms were around her, holding her close.
“Shh,” he whispered softly, “you don’t have ta…”
“I want to,” she insisted, rubbing at her eyes. “It gets better after that. Before he could…y’know, the principal walks out of the dance and catches us and…” Another little sob. “God, if he hadn’t been there!” she whimpered at the thought.
Spike felt his own eyes tearing up as well just at the thought of anyone ever hurting this beautiful, powerful, wonderful woman in his arms. “What happened after that?” he ventured to ask once she seemed calmed down again.
“Snyder had us both suspended for underage drinking and ‘lewd behavior’,” she sighed. “He didn’t know what he’d broken up.”
“You din’t have him arrested?!” Spike demanded, furious that this monster was still walking the streets.
“I-I couldn’t,” Elizabeth insisted raggedly. “I couldn’t tell anyone.” She let out a deep breath. “This ex of mine was from a very influential family and…you just didn’t mess with those people. I would’ve been the victim again before it was over.”
“There wasn’t anythin’ you could do?” he whispered into her hair.
“I got enough of a reputation for being frigid just from the way I reacted to him later,” she whispered against his shoulder. “I never told anyone…until I came here. W-Willow and Tara know that something happened, but…” She looked up at him hesitantly. “You’re the first person I’ve wanted to tell the whole story to.”
His thumb slowly traced the curve of her cheek, wiping at her tears. “Wish I could do somethin’ to make it go away, luv,” he finally said apologetically, touched by her admission, “but I don’ know how…”
“You could start by giving me a kiss,” she suggested softly.
He leaned in to brush his lips against hers in response, his lips and tongue caressing her lips in the most tender, gentle touches she’d ever felt. He pulled away slowly after a minute, opening his eyes again to look deep into hers.
“It was a while ago,” she said softly, managing the smallest of smiles. “I don’t know if it will ever go away, but you…you remind me that all men aren’t like that,” she admitted shyly. “So,” she finished lamely, “that’s why I don’t drink anymore. Your question.”
He sat back and sighed, accepting her subject change. “On another light note,” he began wryly, “what’s the worst you’ve ever been dumped?”
Elizabeth grimaced. “You’d better have something really bad…” she began.
“Trust me,” he nodded, “you won’t even believe it.”
“OK,” she sighed. “Uh…I think I’ve got a tie.”
“’S allowed,” he agreed with a pained little smile.
“OK, boyfriend number one,” Elizabeth began. “Same winner I just told you about, went by Angel of all the ironic things he could have picked…”
Spike scoffed. “Bloody pillock.”
She managed a little smile and rested her head on his shoulder. “I have no idea what that means, but if it’s insulting to Angel, then it’s good. So,” she continued her story, “Angel’s the captain of the football team, and I’m the bouncy head cheerleader named Buffy.”
Spike gave her an incredulous look. “Are you kiddin’ me, Summers?”
“Nope,” she winced and shook her head. “I actually went by Buffy till I came here. Are you scared yet?” she joked lightly.
“You’re stickin’ with ‘Lizabeth now though, right?” he teased back.
“Don’t worry,” she reassured him. “I’ve come to my senses. So, anyway, Angel and Buffy do what normal football players and cheerleaders are supposed to do and start dating. Like, dumb, shallow, ‘we’re vapid stereotypes’ type of dating.” She grimaced. “God, what was I thinking?” she shook her head. “So, Angel invites Buffy to the junior prom, as opposed to the senior prom when he tries to assault her. They dance to sappy love songs, make inane conversation, before going home and doing what you’re supposed to do after prom back at Angel’s house because his parents are out of town. The funny thing happens next Monday in school when Angel’s suddenly moved onto his next conquest now that he’s gotten everything he wanted out of Buffy. Turns out that was all he was interested in…”
“I’m going to kill this kid,” Spike announced vehemently.
Elizabeth sighed. “Don’t bother. He knocked up the daughter of the Cartwrights. There was this huge scandal right after I got here. Shotgun wedding and everything. And I can’t think of any worse punishment than being stuck under Daddy Cartwright’s thumb for eternity.” She shivered. “The man is a dictator.”
“’d still approve of an ‘and then everyone beat the shit outta that wanker’ endin’,” Spike insisted, his brow still furrowed.
She hushed him softly, running her fingers over the sharps lines of his face until his expression relaxed under her caresses. “It’s over,” she insisted. “That girl is gone now. I’m a new person now, with a new life.” She smiled as she took in his handsome features before placing a gentle kiss on his lips. “And I’m really starting to like how this new life is turning out…”
The one kiss multiplied to five, ten, and twenty, and before long they’d fallen back to the mattress again, Elizabeth’s body practically on top of his as she continued to explore his face and chest.
“Cor!” Spike moaned. “You’re so beautiful, luv. So perfect…” His hand reached up to cup one lace-covered breast, and he kneaded it gently in his palm, trying in some way to return the wonderful sensations she was bestowing upon him.
“Mmm,” she eventually came to rest on his chest in lazy contentment, a wide catlike yawn stretching her face. “You’re so cuddly…” She buried her head in his shoulder.
“ ‘Cuddly’?” he repeated, manhood mildly offended. “’ll have you know that ‘m the biggest, badest—”
“Kitty-cat,” she cut him off with a giggle before sliding one hand over his bare chest to find one of his dusty-rose nipples. She traced its soft outlines with her thumbnail as she continued. “All fierce and clawed at first and then all sweet and kittenish once you get your tummy rubbed – absolutely perfect boyfriend material.”
“’m your boyfriend?” Spike couldn’t help but grin despite the series of poofy descriptions she’d just given to him.
“No, I’m half-naked in your bed because I hate you,” she retorted with a sarcastic roll of her eyes.
“Yeah, ‘cause that’s the only other option,” he bit right back. “There is this thing called ‘casual sex’, y’know.”
“There would have to actually be sex for it to be casual,” she couldn’t resist taunting him. “Besides,” she added more softly, “you don’t tell your deepest, darkest secrets to someone who you don’t even want to see the morning after. Believe me, I know…”
“Why do I ‘ave the feelin’ we’re back to the not-so-pleasant past?” Spike asked rhetorically before frowning. “You mind if I have a fag?”
She gave him a dirty little look before sighing. “As long as it keeps you from getting all fidgety and moving,” she finally agreed. “Because I don’t want my pillow to go anywhere.” She wrinkled her brow. “And, as long as that wasn’t some kind of strange hint that you’re actually gay,” she teased.
He rolled his eyes at that. “What part ‘f the beast in my pants did you not feel at the movie?” he countered with a wry grin before his expression softened. “Here, ‘ll even open the window,” he assured her, reaching over to pull it up a crack before the snatched the cigarettes and matches from the nightstand and lit up.
She looked up at him, watching the little glint of ecstasy in his eyes when he first breathed in the warm smoke, followed by renewed calm as he blew it back out. She’d always thought smoking was a disgusting habit before, but the way Spike did it made it look so sexy, and the taste it left on his tongue was absolutely perfect, completely and utterly Spike…
“Parker Abrahms was the tie,” she finally finished answering his question. “Him college boy, me high-school girl just recently dumped and trying to prove she was over Angel. Casual sex occurred. I didn’t know it was casual until the morning after…mostly because Parker forgot to mention it at the time.” She laughed a bit harshly. “So, after that, I guess you can see why Riley looked like such a delightful prospect…”
“Hell, I’d date him now,” Spike teased, tapping off the ash that had formed at the end of his cigarette into the tray before bringing the smoke back to his lips.
“You’re sure you’re not gay?” she teased lightly.
He let out a low growl and quickly stamped the cigarette out before catching her about the waist with both hands and twisting her beneath him.
She moaned when his hard, strong body covered hers, pressing her down into the soft mattress, and he took advantage of the opportunity to plunge his tongue deep into her mouth possessively. His hands caressed her fevered flesh in the most wonderful ways imaginable while his hips slowly undulated against hers, the zipper of his jeans grinding against the cotton of her panties, stimulating little cries of pleasure from her.
He let her get nice and wound up and breathless before he abruptly stopped, his own erection throbbing in need as he rolled off of her. Point proven, though. “Convinced ‘f my manhood now, luv?” he asked with a sly little smirk.
She just gulped, her body still flushed and her panties quite soaked at how perfect it had felt to have him on top of her, grinding into her… Woah, calm down, her rational mind insisted. You’ve been together with this guy, what? All of two days? Definitely not a good idea to go all the way yet…
“Yeah,” she finally managed to say with a husky exhale, “I’m convinced.”
He was smiling at her when she rolled onto her side to face him, his own face red from the intensity of what they’d just done. “My turn now?” he asked simply.
“Turn?” she was still a little bit dazed.
“To answer my question,” he clarified.
“Oh, yeah…right,” she remembered. “Yeah, go on,” she agreed. “What’s the worst you’ve even been dumped?”
He let his head flop down to the pillow with a sigh and closed his eyes. “You heard ‘f Dru?” he finally asked, eyes still shut tight.
“I’ve heard her mentioned,” Elizabeth agreed. “She used to live here or something. And I kinda got the impression that you and she had this thing…”
“A ‘thing’,” he repeated with a wry chuckle. “Nice way ‘f puttin’ it.” The lines of his face hardened as he began. “Drusilla Claremont was a senior my first year. Got one good look at me, the innocent young freshman, and decided that I was the one for her. See, she was a creative writing major – really sick, dark stuff – an’ constantly needed to have a ‘muse’ to keep her goin’.”
Elizabeth’s brow furrowed. “This really sounds like the plot of some bad movie,” she informed him.
He let out a little snort of laughter and blinked open his eyes for a second to look at her before closing them again. “Wouldn’t surprise me,” he agreed. “Dru was a little…unstable. Brilliant, but most fickle thing ‘ve ever encountered. And, of course, I was fool enough to think that this was all hopelessly romantic at the time.”
“Here comes the nasty ‘but’, am I right?” Elizabeth winced slightly, stroking his chest softly throughout the tale.
“Was just li’l hints at first,” Spike sighed, eyes squeezed shut tight as if he were seeing his story transpire on the backs of his eyelids. “She’d show me the stuff she’d written, all depressin’, angsty, dark stuff, with me her ‘pristine, white angel’. And then she started puttin’ little details in her stories, really craftily done, makin’ me wonder if she was cheatin’ on me or if I was just gettin’ paranoid. I didn’t wanna believe it, of course, so I just figured I was readin’ it wrong. So, then she starts askin’ me about all the suspicious passages, tryin’ to get a response.” He let out a weary sigh. “God, I was so naïve… Well, the just of all ‘f this was that she wanted to completely devastate me…for art’s sake, of course. She finally resorted to gettin’ your own dear ex drunk off his ass at a frat party, draggin’ him back here to my room while I was out, and…”
“Oh, god, Spike…” Elizabeth put a hand to her mouth in horror. How anyone could have such persistent, cruel maliciousness was beyond her.
“Fed Cap’n Cardboard some cock’n’bull story ‘bout how I was stalkin’ her, stirred up this huge fuss. That was before she threatened to call the police an’ say I’d raped her. And then, when that one got old, she decided to hint to me that she’d managed to pass a particularly nasty, deadly, an’ incurable form of VD to me.”
Elizabeth froze at that one, stunned. It would explain a few things, though. Like, why her little joke about syphilis hadn’t been taken in the good-humor she’d meant it as.
“Worst week of my life was the one I spent waitin’ for those hospital tests to come back,” he shivered even under the blankets and with the warmth of her body surrounding him. “’Course, I s’pose I should’ve known that it’d just be another of her mind fucks.” A little sob choked through him, then. “Guess I was a good muse, though, since her accounts ‘f my personal agony were enough to get her a job at some S&M magazine in France. She actually had the nerve to send me a copy of her first issue this summer. Mum an’ dad and I had a nice little bonfire party with it.” A tear rolled down his cheek.
She stopped its descent with her lips, tasting the salt of his pain. “Spike…” she whispered softly against his hair before gently peppering his face with light kisses. She had never felt like this before, never had such an overwhelming desire to just hold someone forever and make everything better…
His lips found hers, and they shared several sweet kisses. “Two people with the most emotional baggage in the world end up together,” he joked lightly. “What’re the odds?”
She managed a little laugh. “I’m sure there are worse. But, god…” She still didn’t know what to say.
Which was all right because he still hadn’t figured out what to say to her stories, either. “Will you stay with me tonight?” he finally asked softly, shyly.
“Yeah,” she agreed, burying her head in his chest and holding him close. “I don’t think I want to be alone tonight, either…”