Lessons in Control
Chapter Nine: LA Redux
Friday morning, Willow awoke at the usual Friday time, 8 am. She was careful not to wake the sleeping vampire, something in their nature tended to dislike being woken after only three hours sleep, especially if the sun was shining, she had found. Humans don't care much for it either, she thought with a groan as she reached to turn on the shower. She stepped under the hot streaming water and sighed then groaned as her aching muscles relaxed under the heat.
She never used to have aches and pains in the morning. She smiled - never until Spike, that is. The things they did at night - and in the afternoon - and sometimes in the morning - used and stretched muscles she had never known she possessed.
As she closed her eyes and gave her body over to the warmth flowing over her, she heard the door open and smiled. She should have known she'd never get out of here without waking him. As soon as she left the bed, his Red-Radar kicked in and alerted him to her new whereabouts. Even half-asleep, he'd seek her out.
He joined her in the shower and she positioned him under the heat until his eyes opened. Then she shoved him out of the way, saying, "Me first. Class in an hour. Sleeping vampires who will be going back to bed have to settle for sloppy seconds today."
"Sloppy seconds?" He gaped. "Did you just say I'd have to settle for sloppy seconds?" His voice was laughing, but he looked a little miffed. "Fine." He said before getting out and heading back into the bedroom.
She felt bad and knew she had to apologize, but she also had to shower. She went through her routine: 'shampoo, conditioner, brush teeth, shave the armpits, and wash the body' in record time. She got out and grabbed a towel, rushing in to the bedroom to apologize. Spike was sound asleep. She came to the conclusion that boyfriends should come with an instruction book, it would make things so much easier.
She dressed, ate and left with plenty of time to spare.
At 1:30, the phone rang. And rang. And rang. And rang. Spike finally decided it must be Red and slumped over to answer it. "'Ello, pet." He said affectionately.
"I love you, too, Spike, but that's not why I called" came Angel's reply.
"Peaches! What the hell do you want?" his voice had lost all of the sweetness it carried when he had thought his witch was calling him. "Do you have any idea what bloody time it is?"
"Yes, it's time for all good vampires to be in their beds, but we both know you're not good, so cut the crap and listen."
"That's a lie and you know it, Peaches. I've still got some of your scratches across my -"
"I need your help. Get up here as soon as the sun sets. Cordy had a vision and we need to road trip."
"Bloody hell," he said, then sighed. "Okay, fine. Where we goin'?" he didn't really care, but he was trying to wake up and the longer he kept talking, the easier that would be.
"China Lake."
"You want me to go to a military base?! I don't think so, Peaches, I don't care how well we're getting' along. Still got bad memories of what those wankers did to my head."
"Yeah, but we took care of it, didn't we? And its not that kind of a setup. It's a Naval weapons base. Besides, there's a little girl there that's the target of a tribe of Vertach. I need your help, Spike. I need somebody strong."
"Yeah, yeah, flattery will get you nowh - well, actually it's working. Ok, I'm on my way. We need Red for this? If they are Vertach I'd just as soon prefer she wasn't there."
"No, I agree. But apparently she made plans to do something with Lorne this weekend, he's here now. Something about shopping."
"The green fairy wants to take her shopping? Better him than me. We'll head out as soon as the sun goes down. Anything else?"
"No, just remember that Vertach are slimy suckers when they die. You're going to be a mess. You'd better bring those jeans, you know the ones with the -"
"Yes, I know exactly which ones, thank you very much. I'm gonna have to find another old pair to wear for slimy jobs. This is ridiculous. First the girls, now you."
"I don't know what the girls said, but you'd better not get rid of those jeans. I happen to like those jeans very much. Now bring them, you got me, boy?"
"We are actually going demon hunting, aren't we, Angel?"
"Yes, I told you, Cordy had a vision."
"Then keep your mind on the job and off my bum. Red'll get jealous. Now get off the phone, I need to take a shower."
"Oh, you love it and you know it, William. Ever since the day you first rose, people have been fawning over that face and that body and you adore every minute of it, admit it."
"True. Okay, yes, you're right, I am a handsome bloke. But right now I'm all by my lonesome and if you get me started I'll have to ride solo and I don't fancy going it alone just now. But since you brought it up, if Red and are a little late getting there, you'll have no one to blame but yourself."
"Spike?" came Willow's voice from downstairs. She must have skipped out on her last class.
"You're a right lucky bastard, Peaches. Still have plenty of time before nightfall. Ta-ta, Dad, I'll be thinking of you the whole time, I promise."
"Put Willow on?" Angel asked in a nicer than usual voice.
"Why?" Spike was suspicious of the polite attitude.
"I want to make sure Willow's thinking of me as well," he said, laughing.
"Bye, Peaches," his childe said as he hung up the phone and turned to Willow, who had just arrived by his side.
"What did Dad want?" she asked, smiling.
"Wanted me to shag you silly," he told her, pulling her down onto the bed with him.
"That was nice of him -and hey, lucky me," she laughed as he pulled her clothes off and shagged her silly.
Spike decided to take the Desoto to LA. If Red and the Green Fairy were going shopping, he was sure to need the trunk space on the way home.
Willow was talking along the way about everything she wanted to look for while shopping. Spike decided he would have a chat with the green demon before the two left and convince him to talk Willow into buying some clothing for herself that was more in the line with what Spike would like to see her wear.
Yes, he loved her, everything about her, even the psychedelic plaids and fuzzy sweaters she favored. But when he took her out that first night of training, he'd given up trying to find something sexy for her. He finally put her in one of his silk shirts. Even oversized, it was sexier then any of the Garanimals clothes she owned.
Maybe the Green Fairy could talk her into showing a little of that sweet body of hers.
He remembered the first time they made love. He'd been amazed by what was under all those clothes. They'd spent ten weeks just kissing and touching - tenderly, fervently, passionately.
She was not only the Slayer's best friend, which meant literal and eternal death if he rushed her or hurt her in any way; but also because she was Willow: intense, passionate, loyal and sincere. Which meant that if he, in his haste, hurt her in any way, he'd welcome the Slayer's final stake to his heart.
His first kiss that first night in his crypt had been mostly curiosity. He'd noticed her, admired her and befriended her. But it wasn't until he discovered that she had a thing for his demon that he really considered her.
But what to do about it? He couldn't use her then discard her like he did with the rest of them; she was Red, she deserved better. But a kiss couldn't hurt, could it? Just to see… ?
He didn't expect her to respond like she did, didn't expect himself to respond like he did. It took only three minutes to realize that he loved her and another two to realize how long he had loved her for.
As they kissed, one image kept floating in and out of his mind. The first time he met the Slayer in the alley behind the Bronze. He was telling Blondie that he'd be killing her on Saturday but he couldn't take his eyes off the redhead standing behind the moron boy.
She was terrified beyond anything he'd ever felt before. The Slayer was wary, the boy was definitely afraid, but the little redhead was frightened in a way that made his demon rejoice.
He kept expecting her to run - or faint. But she didn't. She stood there, trying desperately to bring some courage to the surface. He felt it, could feel the battle within her.
Courage lost, but still she'd stayed. He'd admired her then that first night. A little human girl had impressed him, William the Bloody.
Amazing.
Every time he saw her after that, his admiration grew. When he tried to turn her in her dorm room because he'd felt an overwhelming need to have her since the year before, she'd been just as terrified. He wasn't going to let anything stop him this time, Dru was thankfully out of the picture for good. But then he'd discovered that he couldn't bite. And she'd consoled him. In spite of being terrified. She, the potential victim had consoled him, the vampire. Amazing.
When he'd had to go to them for help because the chip prevented him from feeding, he'd felt her compassion. Not pity, like the Slayer and the Watcher; not contempt, like the moron; but compassion. For a demon.
At that moment he loved her. He didn't admit it, not even to himself. He didn't even recognize it for what it was, it was so different from anything he'd ever felt for Dru or Angelus.
But the night he'd finally kissed her; he'd felt it, welcomed it and admitted it - openly.
"Mine" he'd said, surprising even himself. And she'd agreed.
"Always," he'd admitted. "Yes," she'd agreed.
He decided then and there that he wasn't going to mess it up. He was going to make sure she understood the ramifications of a human having a relationship with a vampire before he did anything to irreversibly break her heart - or his own.
So they'd kissed. And talked: about life, death and relationships. About the future: hers, his, theirs. About expectations, about love.
Then one Saturday afternoon, they were in his crypt watching cartoons. Sitting on his beat-up old sofa, holding hands.
Willow stood, walked to the stone sarcophagus that used to serve as his bed. She took off all of her clothes, lay down on top of it, wrapped herself up in the sheet, rested her head against her hand and waited.
Spike wasn't immediately sure what he should do. Oh, he knew what he wanted to do. He'd gotten himself off every day - at least twice but usually more - for the last ten weeks, fantasizing about exactly what he'd do when the time came.
But he'd never dreamt it would begin this way. That she'd be the one to seduce him.
He gave her a look to make sure she was sure, and then he'd joined her with his sexiest half smile brightening his face and his eyes.
It had been awkward. Also physically painful for her when he'd broken her hymen, emotionally painful for him because he hated himself for having to hurt her. She wasn't too sure what to do and he was nervous too, these feelings were new to him.
Hell, sex with humans was rare enough, but making love with one he loved was exceptional and nerve-wracking. But they'd gotten through it and it had, after all, been wonderful.
Until Angel walked in. With Clem. Spike and Willow had been laying in such a way that Angel could tell someone was there with his childe, but he couldn't see whom.
He'd already asked, "Are you busy?" before he noticed that Spike was naked and not alone. Angel immediately turned Clem around and sent him back down to the sewers, but he held himself back.
Savoring the moment.
Spike looked so embarrassed that Angel had known it had to be Willow there with him. He thought of, then discarded, about twenty different remarks (most of them fairly lewd) before he settled on, "It's about time." And followed Clem down the ladder, giggling like a little girl.
Spike was awoken from his reminiscing by their arrival at the Hyperion. He parked and Willow jumped out and pulled him with her, rushing to get inside.
"Hey Handsome, you ready?" she said in a rush, skipping up to her new best green friend and kissing his cheek.
"Whenever you are, Dollface," he answered with a smile.
"Hey, Cordy; hey, Wes" she said with a wave as she quickly went by them and ran into Angel's arms. "Hey, Dad," she said, but her tone was seductive even if the words weren't. When they kissed, deeper than they'd meant to - they got lost in the moment - everyone's mouths gaped open except for Spike's.
Lorne knew something had happened, but he hadn't known it went that well. Cordy and Wes were confused in the most confused way that confusion can get, but were too shocked to ask questions.
Spike took this opportunity to whisper a few shopping suggestions in Lorne's ear, but the demon held up a hand and stopped him, "One step ahead of you, Beefcake. Angel already gave me the talk."
"Good old Dad, always looking out for my best interests," he laughed, before walking over to his girl and his sire.
"Hey, save some for me," he kidded as he wrapped an arm around Willow. His arm covered the arm Angel was using to hold her up and the two entwined their fingers.
Willow pulled back slightly, breaking the kiss and said, "Okay, your turn," with a laugh and a smile. She watched Spike and Angel kiss and her heart sped up so quickly that sire and childe broke off laughing.
"No time, Little One," Angel said regretfully. "We have to leave right now." He planted another kiss on the top of her head and went to get his weapons bag.
Spike said goodbye in a much more enticing manner and Angel had to clear his throat four times before his childe finally pulled away from Willow.
"What the hell was that?" came Cordy's voice through the door as the four of them set off.
"None of your bleedin' business," came her employer's terse reply.
Cordy vocally assaulted Angel on the way to the car, "Oh, no, Mr. 'I've-been-broody-for-the-last-two-and-a-half-years-and-now-I'm-kissing-both-Willow-AND-Spike'. I want to know what's going on and I mean right now!" Cordy wasn't going to leave it alone. Did anybody really expect her to?
"Willow and I are friends." He hesitated then and Cordy looked ready to jump in with another comment so he amended, "Good friends, really good friends." Spike snickered.
"And you're okay with this, Captain Peroxide?" she asked Spike caustically.
"It was my idea," he said, pride evident.
"Okay," Cordy replied, seemingly giving in, and she had - on that point. "Okay, so you're - you're - doing whatever it is you're doing with Willow." She hesitated, trying to take it in and she started mumbling to herself, "Mousy little Willow Rosenberg, class nerd, I can't believe -" but that's as far as she got before she had two master vampires - in full vamp face - in her face, one with his hand around her throat.
"Sorry," she choked out with whatever air could get past Spike's hold on her larynx. Angel growled - loudly, but went back to human features and put a hand on Spike's shoulder. Spike dropped the demon visage but didn't let go.
"Spike." It was Angel's voice in his ear. "Let her go, Spike. She didn't mean anything by it; she's just… like that. I can't explain it, she never makes any sense to me either, but you can't kill her."
"I know," Spike conceded, releasing her. "But that doesn't mean I can't not want to."
Cordelia Chase was completely un-phased. "So, now explain about your relationship with Spike."
"It's none of your business, Cordy." Angel was firm.
Cordy was firmer, "Yeah - so? Now give."
"Spike's my childe, Cordy, you know that." Angel explained.
"Yeah - so?" Cordy was waiting for him to get to the point.
"Wait!" Wesley interrupted them and stopped in his tracks. "You," he said, looking at Cordelia, "knew that Angelus was William the Bloody's sire? But - but the Council's records - and," his eyes narrowed on Spike, "Spike's own narrative says that Drusilla is Spike's sire." His eyes jumped back to Cordelia, "How did you know? I just found out last week."
"Oh, puh-lease!" Cordy said, rolling her eyes. "Did you not feel the sexual tension whenever these two were in a room together? And the way they went at it all the time? There was WAY too much hatred there for it to just be about Drusilla. Wake up and smell the blood, Wesley. Spike belongs to Angelus and Angelus got damn pissed that Spike didn't act like it." She rolled her eyes again, "Geez. And people think I'm dense." She muttered as she got into Angel's car.
"And is it normal vampire custom for sire and childe to stick each other's tongues down each other's throats?" she continued when everyone was settled in the car. She was like a dog with a very tasty bone.
"As a matter of fact -" Angel started but Spike cut him off.
Spike arched an eyebrow, "You got a problem, Beautiful, then it's your problem. What Angel does, what I do, and especially what Red does - are none of your business." He let amber eyes burn into hers, "Or anybody else's - you got that?"
Cordy hadn't gotten such a high SAT score for nothing. "Got it," she muttered before sinking down in the seat.
No one spoke for a long time, then about fifteen miles down the road, Angel suddenly commanded Spike, "Either you're going to tell Buffy and the watcher the truth about me siring you - or I will. Your choice. I'm tired of this 'Who sired Spike?' shit. You got me, childe?"
"Yeah, Dad," came the bored reply from the back seat, followed by a yawn. "Whatever you say."
Meanwhile, back at the Hyperion…..
"So, Handsome," Willow said to the only remaining occupant of the hotel as soon as the others had left. "Where to first?"
"Right here, Sweets," he said, pulling her to a couch in the lounge. "Now tell Uncle Lorne all about your wild weekend." He said with a leer.
Willow wasn't ready to tell him anything - until she realized that as soon as she started singing along with the radio in the car, he'd know all about it anyway. So she sat and curled her legs up. "Well, first, in Angel's car, right outside the club… … …"
Willow woke up with a fuzzy brain. She looked around trying to remember where she was. Burgundy drapes, gold upholstered chairs, burgundy and gold bedspread on the comfy bed she was on, green demon asleep beside her, ugly speckled ivory and gold lamps, black telephone…
Green demon? Oh, thank the goddess - Unca Lorne. She giggled to herself, 'Uncle Lorne'! He was so funny. They'd stayed up last night talking, eating ice cream right out of the carton, and watching an old movie, "Bringing Up Baby" with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. They must have fallen asleep before the end; the tv was still on.
She tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey, Unca. Wake up."
"Just five more minutes, Gramma, please?"
Willow giggled out loud then. A little louder this time she said, "Unca! Time to take your favorite niece shopping."
That did it. "Shopping?"
"Yeah, shopping. It was your idea, and I'm hungry. Take me out for breakfast -" she glanced at the clock, "Um, make that lunch - first?"
"Sure thing, Ruby June. Let's go. [beat] After I brush my teeth and wash the cotton out of my mouth. What the hell were we drinking last night?"
"I don't know. You were pouring. You said it was an age-old family secret."
"Oh."
"What?" something about his tone bothered her.
"Well, 'age old family secret' is a euphemism for 'I have no idea what this is, but I'm trying to get you drunk enough to hop in the sack with me." He brightened, looking at the bed, "Hey, it worked."
Willow laughed, "Doesn't this scheme usually include sex once you're in the sack?"
"Well, usually yeah. But last night, nah - just wanted to snuggle with my new niece."
"Then it worked," she said with a wink and headed out to find her bag and change.
Willow went through the door that Lorne was holding for her. The sign said, "Man, I Feel Like A Woman!" but she didn't see any women. She didn't think. Well, maybe that one over - no, definitely not. 'No women I know have one of those', she thought to herself. "Um, Unca?" she said turning quickly and running straight into Lorne's chest. "Oomph. Um," she stood on tiptoe to whisper in his ear, "Where are we?"
"In Los Angeles," he teased, "You know the one - real big city in southern California -"
She swatted him playfully. "No, silly. What is this place? There are no humans here."
He held a distressed hand to his chest and kidded, "You got something against demons? Because if you do, I hate to tell you this, Sweetums, but you let one buy you lunch today. Not to mention your boyfriend, and the boyfriend of you and your boyfriend. Plus there's -"
"Give. I give," Willow was giggling so hard she almost couldn't breath. When she caught her breath she added, "No, what I meant was, do they carry human clothes?"
"Right this way, milady," he said smoothly, leading her to the right and towards the back. Willow was looking at the other patrons. 'The Rainbow Coalition would love this place', she thought as she observed creatures of all shapes and sizes, in the most wonderful colors - deep purple, rosy pink, cherry red, hunter green, a light, sunny yellow, and 'Oh, hey. That's just the prettiest turquoise. I wonder if I can find a bra in that color?'
She was interrupted from her thoughts by a sales, um, 'woman?' speaking in a language she didn't understand. Lorne answered her in the same language and she led them even further back and up a set of stairs. Lorne said something that must have been along the lines of 'thank you'. Because the sales-being nodded and left them to return downstairs.
"Cool. You may come in handy, Unca. How many demon languages do you speak?" She was impressed.
"That was Portuguese, Cupcake," he was laughing at her. She had to laugh too.
"Oh. My bad," She said with a shrug and started looking over the clothes hanging on racks on the walls. "Um, Lorne, I mean Unca, um, I don't think I can wear any of this." She looked a little wary.
"What's wrong?"
She picked up a slinky black dress and held it up so that she could look through the various baseball sized holes that were scattered all over the dress.
"Oh, nice choice," Lorne said with a wide smile, taking the dress from her and laying over his arm. Let's pick out twenty or thirty more before we try them on, shall we?"
Willow spent about twenty minutes picking up anything that looked like it might be the least bit conservative, in the broadest sense of the word. The green demon spent about thirty-five minutes picking out things Willow didn't think she'd have the nerve to try on, let alone buy. 'Is that chain-mail?'
They went to the changing room and Willow was a little apprehensive to discover that the sales-being had shown them to a rather large room and brought in a chair for Lorne. He sat, got comfortable and motioned for her to start trying on.
"Are you going - going to-"
"Yes I am, and if I see something I've never seen before, I'll be sure to let you know," he commented blandly and motioned with his hand for her to get on with it.
She was finding herself in the strangest situations lately. She thought of sitting blindfolded on the bed in the hotel that night, when she had first slept with Angel. This was a cakewalk compared to that so she started to undress.
She was surprised to find that the black baseball-hole dress looked pretty good on her and covered all the major things she wanted covered - provided she didn't jiggle, or dance, lean over or sit. Lorne put in in the 'Probably' pile.
She liked the green chiffon with lots of layers, but Lorne said it looked like camouflage for the girly set and put it outside the changing room on the return rack.
There was a skin-tight purple dress with a long zipper than looked like it was painted on. It was really comfortable, but it was awfully revealing of curves she didn't know she had. Lorne put it in the 'Spike and Angel will kill me if I don't make you buy this' pile.
An hour later she had eleven dresses that she was trying to decide between when Lorne picked them all up and took them to the checkout counter. "Uh, hm" she cleared her throat as she tugged on his sleeve. "I don't have enough money for all this," she whispered in his ear.
He gave her a big grin. "I do," he said as he pulled Angel's credit card out of his pocket. "He said to buy you and I quote 'Absolutely everything that Spike would like to see her in and nothing that's anything like what she wears now' unquote."
"Hey, having a dad's pretty cool," she smiled.
"Don't you have one now?" He hadn't heard that she was an orphan.
"Kinda sorta. He and my mom haven't been around since I was about ten. They have to travel a lot for their jobs."
He looked at her eyes as he listened to her words. Putting his arms around her in a warm hug he said, "Well, you've got a family now whether you want one or not. Welcome to the family, Willow."
She had to brush an eyelash out of her eye before she said, "Thanks, Unca. It's nice to belong somewhere."
Lorne signed for their purchases and led her out of the store and into the one next door. "More shopping?" she giggled.
He shrugged, "Shoes."
"So there's no chance of the Happiness Clause being broken?" Cordelia just wouldn't leave it alone. They were sitting in a hotel room, eating takeout Chinese and waiting for the sun to set. The plan was in place to rescue the little girl and they would be ready to go as soon as the sun set.
"Cordy, if you don't shut up about this, you're fired. What I do with my life is none of your business. Besides, do you really think I'd risk losing my soul?"
"No, but then I never thought you'd be sitting there running your hands through Spike's hair, either." Angel pulled his hand away, he hadn't even realized he'd been doing it. Spike rolled his eyes; Wes pretended to be engrossed in reading the takeout menu.
"Fine." She finally said, giving in, but not liking it. "But if you go all Angelus on us, I'm staking your ass."
"If I go Angelus on you, you won't get the chance." Angel grinned.
Spike rolled his eyes again, "Hey, beautiful," he said to Cordy, "The ass is the wrong place to stake him, won't hurt 'im, it'll just turn him on. You may want to aim a little higher up," he laughed.
Angel growled at him.
Spike looked contrite, "Not that I'd let you, a' course. Protect my sire with my unlife if I have to." He laughed. "Nah, I'm kidding. He won't need me. I'll be safe, Red'll be safe, anyone else is fair game. He loses the soul, I'm letting him eat you." Then he turned over onto his stomach and fell asleep.
By the time Willow and her unca returned to the Hyperion, they were so bogged down with bags that they had to drag some of them through the door.
Willow sat on the round sofa and surveyed the bags around her. "Oh, Angel's gonna be so pissed at us," she laughed.
"Nah, it'll be fine. Don't worry." Lorne reassured her.
"Oh, I'm not worried. In fact, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he see the bill," Willow was laughing so hard now that she almost fell off the sofa. After surveying the bags around him and tallying up the totals from each store in his head, he wasn't sure laughing was the best course of action.
They had gotten dresses, shoes to match the dresses, and shorts, tops and jeans in every flattering shape and color. The got lingerie to wear under the clothes and lingerie to wear without the clothes. He hoped Angel had a few well paying jobs coming up.
"Maybe we did go a little overboard," he hazarded.
"Hey, just following orders, Unca. It's not our fault if he wasn't more specific." She yawned.
"Why don't we head upstairs, we'll get this stuff in the morning."
"Good idea," she said as she pulled an emerald green crushed velvet nightgown out of one of the bags and headed upstairs.
It took real effort to get a shower and wash her hair; she was having a difficult time keeping her eyes open. She found the cure for that as soon as she lay in the bed and turned out the light. Thoughts of Spike and Angel and the dangers they could be facing swam before her closed eyes. They were headed to a military installation after all, and after the Initiative, she knew Spike had to be more than a little worried. The anxiety she felt about him being apprehensive made her toss and turn and cry out in frustration.
After an hour and a half, she finally got up, tiptoed down the hall and quietly tapped on Lorne's door. He opened it almost immediately. "Wow," was all he said.
"Huh?"
"Wow. You - just wow. That nightie was definitely a good choice, you have a good eye." His eyes seemed to be doing pretty good, too. They never left her cleavage.
Willow blushed, "Oh. Um - thanks. Can I come in?"
He stepped back to let her enter.
"You weren't sleeping, were you?"
"No, just watching an old movie," he pointed to the television in the corner.
"Oh," she asked, trying to sound interested, "Which one?"
"I'm No Angel, 1933, Mae West," he answered, not fooled.
She perked up, "Oh, I love that one! That's the one with Cary Grant, right?"
"Yes, Cupcake, it is. You wanna tell me what's wrong?"
"Oh, um, nothing. Can I stay and watch too?"
"Sure," he smiled indulgently and pulled her into bed, settling them both under the covers, he settled her between his legs, leaning her back onto his chest. A few minutes later when Mae leaned over and said to Cary, 'When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad, I'm better.' Lorne put his arms around Willow and gave her a hug. He kissed the back of her head and whispered, "He'll come back safe. They both will, I promise."
Ten minutes later, Willow was fast asleep.
"Isn't this so cute?" Cordy whispered, but with their superior hearing, both vamps heard her, even though one was still downstairs and the other was just getting out of the shower.
It was five thirty-seven in the morning and they had returned with minutes to spare before sunrise. Cordy had seen all the bags and wanted to talk to Willow about where she had gotten the beautiful clothes. It never occurred to her that the girl might be asleep; in her mind, if she was up, she assumed everybody was up.
She had gone up to find which room Willow was staying in and had just started opening every door until she spotted Willow. When she found her, Willow and Lorne were curled up together in bed, sound asleep. The girl was on her side, one hand resting on Lorne's chest. His hand was clasped in hers. As Cordy stood there, they both shifted and relaxed into each other a little more. Hence the 'cute' comment.
Spike supposed that the cheerleader was talking about Willow because - well, there was nothing else in the hotel that could pass for cute. When he silently appeared at her side, she was just turning to go. His sudden presence made her scream, which not only woke up the pair that were sleeping, it brought Angel running wearing only a towel.
"What is it, another apocalypse?" said a groggy Willow, before she opened her eyes and saw her mate standing there.
"Spike!" she squealed happily, jumping up and into his arms.
"Cordy, what's wrong?" came Angel's bellow. When he saw his childe and his mate, he groaned, "Oh, is that all?" before heading back to his room for about twelve hours of sleep.
"Do you all mind if I go back to sleep now?" Lorne yelled before pulling the covers over his head and falling back onto the bed.
"Oh, sorry," Cordy apologized, closing the door. She was going to follow Willow and ask her about her stunning new clothes until she heard Spike say, "Love the new pj's, Love. It looks gorgeous on you, but it'll look even better on the floor."
Cordy decided that tomorrow would be soon enough to ask about the clothes and headed for the room she used when they had a long night and she was too tired to make it home.
As she was lowered to her feet, Willow took a good whiff of Spike's clothes and said, "Shower - now mister. You're not touching me smelling like that. What is that anyway?" "Demon," Spike answered as he headed into the shower.
He was just getting his tired muscles relaxed in the heat of the shower when he heard her come in. He smiled as the shower door opened and she stepped in.
"Miss me, pet?" he was smirking.
"Parts of you," she answered as she lowered herself to her knees and took his still flaccid cock in her mouth and started sucking. The flaccid situation didn't last long.
"Oh, Love, come on. I'm real tired and I think I'm only gonna be able to do this once. Come up here and let me do it right," he pleaded, half-heartedly. 'Cor, her mouth is just so bloody hot,' he thought as he spoke. He reached for her arm to help her up, but she shook him off.
"Nuh-uh," she said, he mouth still wrapped around him. When he tried again to pull her to her feet, she stopped and ordered, "I'm the mistress here. Lesson the first, do everything I tell you to do and only what I tell you to," she was giggling, not really serious… but when his erection got so big and stiff that it hit her in the chin, she continued a little more seriously, "Put your arms over your head. I don't want those hands to come off the wall." He immediately did as she commanded.
She took her time, savoring the feel and taste of him. She let her tongue enjoy the silky softness of his skin; she let her lips take pleasure in the wonderful feel of the head twitching in her mouth as she moved back and forth surrounding and sucking him and then pulling off of him completely. Every time she took him into her warm wet mouth, she increased the suction just a bit, milking his pre-cum out slowly. The tip of her tongue ran under the foreskin to catch every drop.
Her fingers drifted over the shaft, barely touching at first and increasing in pressure and speed to match the motions of her mouth and tongue. Just when she felt his balls tighten, she released him and tried not to chuckle as he groaned.
"Be quiet or I'll stop," she ordered and he was immediately silent. She let her fingertips flit gently over his length once again, letting him calm down a little. She wasn't done with him yet. She reached under and cradled his sac in her hand, pulling on the skin just enough to almost hurt. She reached for the soap and coated her index finger in the suds. She dropped the soap and slid the finger through his legs and up the valley of his ass until she felt the opening she sought. When she had him lubricated and relaxed enough to get a finger inside of him, she pushed inside as her mouth engulfed the length of his cock once again. She pumped her finger in and out as she relaxed her throat to take him deeper.
Four strokes later, he was shaking and squirting his release down her throat.
Just before sunset, everyone slowly made their way downstairs. When Willow finally arrived - last - Lorne and Cordy were going through all her new clothes, piece by piece. She was happy to see that her Unca was defending the choices that Cordy didn't like, even the ones he himself had tried to talk her out of. 'Loyalty', she thought. 'Something you can never have enough of.' She smiled, then quickly frowned. 'Or maybe he just doesn't like Cordy and wants to piss her off. Nah, I'm sticking with the first one, just 'cause I like it better.' The smile came back.
She wandered into the kitchen and made herself some tea. Wrapping both hands around the warm mug, she went in search of Spike and Angel.
They were walking out of the office and Spike came and enveloped Willow in a hug. "Sleep good, pet? You went out like a light."
She beamed and nodded, taking pleasure in the feeling of being in his arms again. Wesley walked into the room, apparently he had been in the basement. He gave Spike a wide berth and started whispering to his boss.
"What's up with Wes?" Willow asked. "You threaten to bite him?"
He shrugged, "Um, don't know."
He was lying, she could tell. He was a terrible liar and even those three words had given him away. From previous experience, she knew she wouldn't get anything out of Spike if he didn't want to tell something, so she walked over to ask Wes himself. When she was still a few feet from him and Angel, he dove over the counter, practically running up to Spike and hiding behind him. He made sure to smile broadly at the vampire and pat him on the back like they were old school chums.
He wasn't avoiding Spike, he was avoiding her. She saw the amusement in Spike's eyes and then again in Angel's.
"SOMEBODY HAD BETTER TELL ME RIGHT THIS MINUTE WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!" she yelled across the lobby of the hotel, her voice echoing off the walls.
Wes tried to make a stab for the door, but she called out, "Consistere" and he froze in his tracks. He kept trying to take another step, but his feet wouldn't move.
Willow practically skipped over to Angel and asked, "Daddy?" He rolled his eyes but didn't answer her, so she turned her attention back to her mate, "Spikey?". More stoney silence. She was getting really pissed now.
She walked slowly and carefully over to the sofa where Cordy and Lorne had stopped talking about her clothes and were now staring at the others like they were all completely insane. She sat next to Cordelia and asked her, "Miss Chase, do you happen to know what this is about?" in the sweetest voice she could muster.
"Um, uh, no. I mean no. I have no idea. They all seemed perfectly normal on our trip. Well, as normal as the three of them ever get anyway."
She didn't ask Lorne anything, just looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. She blew out a few deep breaths before standing again. She debated whom to try. First she considered Wesley, but it seemed like he was the guilty party so he probably wouldn't be the most forthcoming. Spike wouldn't tell her if he didn't want to, he was almost as stubborn as she was. Plus she had no blackmail she could threaten him with. A slow smile spread across her face as she walked in Angel's direction.
When she reached him, she pulled a stool up next to him so she could meet his height. She seductively ran an index finger up his chest, leaned in and whispered in his ear. Spike strained to hear, but it seemed she was barely making a sound - she didn't want him to overhear and with Angel's enhanced hearing, he'd be able to decipher the smallest vibration. For the next several minutes, Wesley, Spike, Lorne and Cordelia looked back and forth between each other and the pair behind the counter. Soundless questions were mouthed back and forth and shrugs were given by all.
When Willow pulled away, Angel started talking very quickly. "Spike and I got drunk and when we woke up, Wes had tied up Spike and had a stake at his heart. He was trying to protect me, I told him I didn't need protecting because my childe would never hurt me and that from now on, Spike was off limits. I untied Spike and Wes left and that's it, end of story." It was a good thing he didn't need breath to stay alive because he had expended all of it squealing on Wesley.
Wes gave him a venomous look but Angel just shrugged, "What can I say? She's very persuasive." He was unashamed and unconcerned with Wes's ire.
Willow took a moment to absorb it all. Wesley had tried to stake Spike? Her Spike? And Angel didn't kill him? Spike didn't rip his throat out? Death was the only sensible solution. Another three deep breaths. But she couldn't do it. As much as she wanted to eviscerate him, her conscience would bother her. Well, maybe… No! She couldn't kill him.
"Consurgere" she murmured under her breath. The ex-watcher hit the ceiling with a bang and stayed there.
Willow took her mug and sipped her tea, leaning her elbows on the counter, eyes raised to the traitor on the ceiling. The other four people still on the floor slowly made their way over to Willow.
Lorne gathered the courage to speak first, "Ruby June?"
"Yes, Unca?" she answered sweetly but never lowered her eyes.
"How long you planning on leaving him up there?"
"Until I decide how to punish him."
Cordy's turn, "That's not his punishment?" she asked, pointing up.
"No, that's just so he can't get away."
"Love, it wasn't -"
"Willow, he didn't -"
Both Angel and Spike spoke at the same time, but they stopped when Willow turned on them.
"And when did this happen? This week? This month? Last year? And by the way, when were you planning on telling me, or were you just going to let a potential threat go on living and working and walking around like he deserved to live??" She had started out at a normal tone, but her voice increased in pitch and volume as she went on.
Another deep breath, "Calm now. Calm, calm." She said to herself. Then a little louder, "Okay, we can't kill him - much as he deserves it."
Angel broke in. "He's not a threat. He didn't know. He'd never met Spike before, he was never here when you guys came to visit and all he knew was what he was told in Sunnydale. The whole Spike and Dru terrorizing the town bit. And, and -" he had the decency to look sheepish, "And about Angelus taking Dru from him and then helping Buffy to get her back. You remember, the fire poker to the head episode."
"Oh." She felt a little better, but he was still a maggot and deserved to crawl like the parasite he was.
"Pet, it's fine. He didn't even scratch me, no rope burns or anythin', I swear. I'm fine." "When did this happen?" she asked.
"Last time we were here. When I had to come here 'cause your bloody parents were in town." "Did you intend to tell me and then forget with all the -" but she couldn't finish the sentence. Not with Cordy and Lorne listening. And Wesley, but she wasn't sure he could hear them from way up there.
"Actually," Angel smiled. "We did threaten to tell you."
"Huh?" from Willow, Lorne and Cordy.
"I was gonna beat him to a bloody pulp, pet, when it occurred to me that you'd have a fit if you didn't get to do it yourself." He answered, pulling Willow into his embrace and kissing the top of her head. "Even the poof here-"
"Hey!"
"Oh, fine." With a roll of the eyes. "Even my sire here thought the threat of your wrath would be a fitting retaliation."
She smiled, "He did?"
"Yes, I did. You're a hell of a witch," he offered before looking at his employee and friend pinned to the ceiling.
She basked in the praise for another moment before saying, "Gutta terra. Solum vermis." Wes dropped like a rock and before he could even groan at the pain, he turned into an earthworm.
Lorne was the only one who laughed, "Just think, if we cut him in half, we can have two Wesleys."
Willow pouted, "Hm, hadn't thought of that. Battus Philenor."
The earthworm changed into a dark brown caterpillar with orange spots.
"You'd better get him some leaves and purple flowers. I'll turn him back when he turns into a Pipevine Swallowtail." She seemed unconcerned, strolling over toward a sofa.
"A what?" Cordy asked.
"A Pipevine Swallowtail. A pretty blue butterfly." She answered. "Now, come tell me what happened with the little girl," she said as she patted the seat next to her.
Angel had been explaining the details of their trip to China Lake. Willow and Lorne had both been listening with avid attention to the startling tale. Angel had just begun the part about the soldiers halting them while they were in pursuit of the Vertach when Spike began rubbing small circles behind her left ear with his index finger. It was too… distracting, so she shook him off and concentrated on Angel's soft baritone.
A few seconds later she felt his thumb rubbing the hollow at the base of her skull. She felt every muscle in her body relax (he knew just where to touch her, dammit) so she shook him off again as the dark vampire was telling about how Spike had run into the middle of the tribe and grabbed the little girl, returned and handed her into Cordy's waiting arms and set off into the fray again.
Angel was describing the fight in very graphic terms that made Lorne smile, but were making Willow kinda nauseous, when she heard Spike's soft voice in her ear. "What did you whisper to Peaches?" he asked but her only answer was a small smile.
"I can make you tell me, ya know." She shook her head. She wasn't ready to tell him yet. She heard the words, "…but it ripped off his arm instead," from Angel so she tried to concentrate on something else and settled on the caterpillar in the mayonnaise jar on the table.
"I missed you," said the whisper in her ear again and she smiled.
"I missed kissing you," said the voice before a soft kiss was placed on her shoulder. The finger started the circular motions behind her ear again and this time she didn't have the will to stop him.
"I missed playing with your hair," he said and she felt herself start to melt. She had been prepared for his usual seductive words meant to inflame her, but this was different than his usual measures to break through her defenses and she wasn't sure how to handle it.
"I missed looking into your eyes and seeing your warmth."
The finger was still rubbing the sensitive spot behind her ear and she couldn't even hear Angel any more.
"I missed your voice. And your ramblings." She felt him smile against her ear.
"I love the way your breath feels on my skin as you lay against my chest and tell me things.
I missed that, too."
"I missed your laugh and your smile. And the way you look down at your shoes when you're embarrassed. I missed hearing your heart speed up when I walk in the room. I missed the way you have to drink three cups of coffee before you can tell a lie. I missed the way you breath funny right before you're going to laugh. I missed the way you cross all of your fingers over each other as you're telling somebody something they don't want to hear, but need to know."
He stopped and she looked at him, never realizing her knew her this well.
"You know what I missed most?" he asked. She shook her head slightly.
"I missed the way I feel when I'm around you, like there's a balloon in my chest that's gonna burst because I need you so much. Like I'm not whole unless you're with me. Like I'm alive again. Did you know I even breath now?" She looked a question at him.
"I didn't realize it either. The cheerleader pointed it out. I breath, in and out, all the time, even when I'm asleep. And when she said it, I realized when I started doing it. That first night, I held you in my arms as you slept in my bed. And I listened to your heartbeat and I felt you breath. And I wanted so much to be part of you that I started breathing too. I guess I just never stopped."
She never made a sound but he saw the tears flowing down her face. He saw Angel look at him over her shoulder and he gestured to let him know everything was all right.
He leaned in and whispered one more thing, "So what was it you whispered to Angel?" and grinned at her shocked face. She slapped him lightly and bolted off the couch and up the stairs. Spike laughed to all and sundry. "Night all," he said as he sprinted up after her.
?
She was calm, and sated, and spooned in front of him. She felt safer in his arms than she had ever felt in her life. All the things she thought she had missed in her life: loving parents, a supportive atmosphere, acceptance, love that went beyond friendship, nurturing, heat and desire. She didn't miss them when she was here. She had them all when she was here. She had never trusted anyone like she trusted Spike. Not even Xander. Spike would never laugh or judge her. He saw all the parts that made up Willow and he loved her anyway. She felt like she could do anything when she was with him. She felt like she could fly. Now there was an idea…..
SPANK
"Oh!"
r-u-b
"Oooohmm"
SPANK
"Oh, Spike.."
r-r-u-u-b-b
The litany continued. Spike would smack her bottom or her thigh, and then soothe the area he had marked. Each smack got her more excited, each rub got her closer to orgasm. She felt the effect his ministrations were having on him when his very erect penis jabbed her in the back. She moaned again when she felt it, but she knew not to say anything, Spike liked to do things at his own pace and since he had never disappointed her yet, she kept your thoughts to herself.
His smack hit the front of her thigh and part of her abdomen. He was driving her crazy. She tried to move as he rubbed her and he let her turn onto her back. He pulled the covers off of them so that he could see all of her newly-pink skin. The next slap came down on her soft curls and she spread her legs wide for him. The next spank landed right on her clit and she bucked as her orgasm erupted. His gentle rubbing prolonged it. As she calmed he sat up to admire the handprints which temporarily marked her delicious skin. He was particularly fond of the one the disappeared between the juncture of her thighs.
He moved to lay between her legs and leaned up on one elbow to send another hard smack to her still throbbing pussy. He quickly covered the stinging area with his mouth. He loved the feel of her skin when it was warm from his touch. He could feel her blood that had rushed to the affected area pulsing just below the surface.
He let her blood and her scent infuse his senses before moving to give her - and by extension, him - pleasure. He took his time lapping up her juices from her last orgasm. She tasted like the sweetest wine to him. He went slowly wanting to make her last.
His tongue danced around all the spots that were guaranteed to make her cum almost instantly. He licked at the inside of her lips, purposely missing the top edges of her labia. He kissed the curls just above her clit, making her groan in frustration. He smiled. He let his tongue skim over her entrance but didn't go inside.
After about twelve minutes of this, Willow was panting and ready to scream. Just when she was about to plead, she heard, "Cream for me, baby."
Her body spasmed immediately at his words and she finally felt the flat of his tongue against her swollen clit. She grabbed the sheets with her fists and thrashed back and forth, riding his mouth for her entire orgasm. Just as she was settling down, she heard and felt him purr against her, and her used and abused body started to shudder once again.
By the time she had finished, she felt like she was made of molten lava. She knew her brain had been fried, she could feel it. She was covered in sweat and upon opening an eye, it looked like he was too. Damn smug vampire was smiling down at her as his hand carelessly swirled over her stomach.
"You - you - inside me," she gasped out between breaths, "Just - just give - me - a - min - minute."
"No, baby, you're done for tonight," he said kissing the tip of her nose, "I just wanted to make you feel good." He continued at her skeptical expression, "It doesn't always have to be about me getting off, ya know. I love making you cum, even if I don't."
She still didn't seem to believe him. He tried again, "How many times have you gone down on me and then let me fall asleep?" She smiled at this, "Not that many, actually," she countered and yawned.
"How many times have you snuck up on me while I was watching the telly, or drinking blood," he said smirking, " and gone down on your knees just because you said you wanted a taste. And then you smugly get up and leave after you're done having you wicked way with me," he laughed. "You don't get to cum then, so why do you do it?" he asked.
"Because I like it," she said with closed eyes but a smile on her face.
"Exactly," he said, turning her to spoon into his chest once again.
He waited until her breath was steady but not quite deep enough for sleep.
"What did -" he started, but she cut him off.
"Angel's coming to visit us in Sunnydale," She said quietly right before she fell asleep.