Lessons in Control
Chapter Fifteen: Get A Clue
"Spike, come on, I need to get this done."
"Fine, but why do I have ta do it?"
"Because you live here too. You helped get these sheets dirty, you're gonna help fold them after I wash them."
"But this is housework, Love. Demons don't do housework. At least masters don't, that's what minions are for."
Willow smiled indulgently at the love of her life; she knew how much he gave up when he fell in love with her. Being a master vampire with hundreds of minions to do your bidding - all that power, it would be hard to let that go if it was in your ability to have.
"We don't have any minions, Spike."
"I could always turn Xapper. It'd be fun to order him around, making him wash your knickers and such," he teased with a small chuckle and a raise of his scarred eyebrow, he knew she could never resist him when he did that. He suddenly frowned, "Wait, never mind. I don't want him or anyone else touching your knickers." After a very big overly dramatic sigh, Spike conceded, "Fine, give me the sheet, but if you tell anyone about this, Red…" He let the treat hang open.
An amused twinkle formed in Willow's eyes as she asked, "You gonna punish me?"
Since he was making his first attempt - ever - to fold a sheet, he didn't notice her playful attitude. "Yes, I will - er, well, no, I won't. You know I'd never…" Again his sentence was left unfinished as he tried to figure out how to get the bloody sheet to fold properly without there being any bits left hanging out.
Willow took one side and in ten seconds, they had the sheet folded into a perfect square. "Neat trick, Red. This some human thing that everybody knows or is it just you because you're so smart?" he teased.
"Just me," she answered with a grin, "Everybody else on the whole planet just wads them up and stuffs them in the linen closet."
Spike grabbed her around the waist and lifted her effortlessly onto the old washing machine that was groaning its way through the spin cycle. Willow felt the bumps and jumps of the contraption as it tried to finish its job. "I think we need a new washer, Spike."
Spike eyed the machine and watched it toss Willow back and forth as it seemed to take a few steps forward and then a few steps back again. He coaxed Willow's knees a little further apart and stepped in between them. Calloused fingers made their way underneath the denim button down shirt she wore and ran lightly across the skin of her stomach and around to her lower back.
His cool blue eyes became fascinated by the way her body, or more specifically, her breasts, bounced around as she sat atop the ancient washer. The fingers continued their journey, up her backbone until they reached the mystical combination of cotton, elastic and metal that made up the fastening to her bra. One set of fingers deftly unhooked it, while the other traced his name across her back.
Spike didn't notice her sigh or even the racing of her heart as those fingers slowly made their way back down her spine and around the front to the outside of her shirt. Starting at the bottom, one by one, he undid each button, his eyes feasting on every new bit of skin that was revealed.
When he finally revealed the bouncing flesh that had caught his attention to begin with, he lost all patience and pulled the rest of the shirt apart and away from her body, thankfully only losing one button in the process. Not that Willow minded, she loved that she could make him loose control like this. With a roll of her shoulders, her bra fell forward and slid down her arms.
Spike was lost in the wonder that was her skin. He loved the feel of it; the texture, the taste, the softness. His own hands, rough from the work of fighting demons almost every night, traced the outline of her body; up the sides and across her stomach, the indentations above her collar bones and the soft column of her neck as she stretched and preened as he lavished her body with attention. Finally his hands made their way to her waiting breasts and her breath caught at the wonder in his eyes as he studied her. He held and weighed them, caressed and massaged them, all the while avoiding the now hard and painfully erect nipples. In the blink of an eye, his mouth was on her, licking and nipping at each bud in turn. With a low moan that turned into a long purr, he pulled her body closer to his and slowly took her right nipple into his mouth and suckled her.
The sensations were overpowering her senses and the most she could think to do was sink her fingers into his soft short hair and hold him to her. His lips were barely moving, they were merely holding her in place as his tongue worked her nipple, coaxing something, she didn't know what - maybe it was the very essence of her - but he drew it out as he sucked and swallowed. Heat and liquid pooled between her thighs and she moaned and sighed and squirmed in his arms, it was too much, it felt as if she were losing herself in him.
He seemed to know just when to stop, just before the moment when her soft warm skin would become raw from his attentions and he switched over to her left breast. The same suckling movements, maybe a little more frantic this time, as if he needed something that he wasn't quite getting. His hands, that were so gentle and caring a moment ago, became harsh as he grabbed the skin on her back and his fingers sought purchase within her skin as he drew her even nearer.
A very small part of Willow's brain became concerned. What was wrong? Why does he seem so desperate? Last night he was fine, more than fine; she thought their first foursome with Angel and Tara had been a rousing success. Tara left shortly after breakfast this morning, well, this afternoon really, it had been almost one when she and Tara had finally awoke.
Angel was still asleep, but she understood that he normally slept most of the day. The only reason Spike was awake is because he always woke shortly after she left the bed - or the floor in this case; she thought it was kind of sweet. So what was making him act this way?
It felt wonderful, amazing really, but something was different. She felt a hand rub against the warm wet denim between her thighs and she decided to ask him later - much later. Whatever it was, she'd make sure he felt better about it soon. She felt him losing control; she felt the ridges of his forehead rubbing against her.
"Bite me," she whispered in his ear and immediately felt his fangs sink into her breast and when he took his first pull of her blood, she came. She ground her crotch against his stomach, trying to create more friction and prolong her orgasm. His tongue slipped out to flick at her nipple as his mouth drew out her blood and his fingers unzipped her jeans. Before her prolonged release was over, she was nude and bent over the washer, Spike entered her with such force he hit every orgasmic nerve in the entire length of her passage and her next release started before her first one had truly ended.
Her legs were spread wide and after a few minutes, when something resembling real thought returned to her, she felt her clit being rubbed by the washing machine every time it jumped through its attempt at finishing the rinse cycle. Spike was holding onto her hips and building an increasingly faster rhythm. The feel of him always was her undoing but with the addition of the washer bouncing against the bundle of nerves of her clit, she went spiraling out of control as she lost herself in the incredible feel of Spike's magnificent cock sliding in and out of her warm pussy, his fingers holding her hips in place with a grasp that was sure to leave beautiful marks of his passion on her skin, and the wonderful sound of his voice, telling her over and over how much he loved her, worshipped her, would do anything for her she need only command him.
He growled ferociously with his release and lay spent across her back as the washer finally finished and sputtered to a stop. He wound his fingers in her hair as he often did after they made love and left a trail of kisses down her back.
"Are you okay?" she finally asked him.
He let out a sigh, something that often exasperated her since he didn't need to breath, but did anyway, just because she did - okay, so that was kind of sweet too. He stood and pulled her into his arms.
"Thank you."
He was thanking her? For what?
"For what?"
"For everything. For loving me, for giving me a chance, for being beautiful and smart and wonderful, for seeing that I'm a man as well as a demon, and for loving both of them. For being adventurous and unafraid, for trying things I know you never even considered before you met me, for understanding that sometimes I need things you don't understand and letting me have them anyway. Thank you for letting me love you and make love to you, and fuck you and blindfold you and whip you and paddle you -"
Willow giggled, "You say the kindest things."
He chuckled and then his face got serious again and he leaned his forehead against hers. "Thank you for giving me my sire back."
So that's what this has been about, she thought, smiling. "I didn't give him back, Spike, you never lost him. He loves you, as much as you love him - and don't deny it because I know you do and you promised me you'd never lie to me no matter what, remember?" she admonished.
"I wasn't going to deny it, Love," he said. "I was just going to say that I'm glad you know me so well that you realized it even before I did."
"This calls for a celebration," she announced with a grin. "A family reunion. Why don't you and Angel go out tonight and do some sire/childe bonding stuff? What do vampires - never mind, I just realized that I don't really want to know," she added with a grimace.
"If this is to be a true family reunion," Spike said in a low husky tone, "You'll have to come too. We'll just have to find something we can all do together." Willow decided that nobody else in the history of history could make that sentence sound as lascivious as Spike did.
"Gee whiz, its crowded in here tonight," Anya said as she led her friends through the crowd at the Bronze. She reached for a chair at the same time as a big burly man who looked like a stereotypical lumberjack (of the non-Monty Python variety) started to sit in another chair at the same table.
"Unless you'd like your penis to become covered in boils and have pea green puss leaking out of your anus, I wouldn't sit there if I were you," she informed him in a very ex-vengeance demony way. He immediately got up and Anya turned to her friends to inform them that she had found them an empty table.
Buffy and Xander had been waving at some friends from high school and blessedly missed the exchange.
"Great," said Buffy as she pulled out a chair.
"First round's on me," offered Xander. "Ladies, the usual?" he asked and when they nodded, he asked, "Riley too?"
Buffy smiled, "Yeah, he should be here soon. Professor Walsh has him on a short leash but he should be done grading papers soon."
"Be right back."
Anya and Buffy sat in uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Anya started asking about the best places to buy certain things. Shopping was the one topic she and the Slayer could discuss without verbally sparring.
They talked companionably for a while, then wondered what could be taking Xander so long but decided it had to be crowded at the bar and that's what was holding him up. Anya was trying to come up with a new item she could ask Buffy's shopping advice on, she had to be friendly to her, she was one of Xander's best friends after all, when she noticed a very strange sight on the dance floor. Her staring led Buffy to wonder what was so entertaining and she searched until she found the thing that must be attracting all Anya's attention.
It was Willow dancing in a skin tight dress, which was getting to be a rather familiar sight, so that wasn't what was odd. The odd thing was that the body entwined so closely with Willow's wasn't Spike. She wasn't sure who it was, he was either leaning over to whisper in her ear or nibble on her neck and knowing Spike's temper, it had better be the former. Willow shivered and moved to give her partner better access. Anya and Buffy both gasped, he was kissing her neck and worst than that, it was Angel.
Buffy saw Willow and Angel laugh and smile at each other, locking their bodies together in a very erotic slow dance and she stood, ready to confront her former love and possibly her former best friend when Anya grabbed her arm just in time, saying, "No, Buffy. It's not your business any more. You have Riley, remember?"
Buffy was stunned, "But -"
"No buts. It's over. Whatever" she glanced at the dance floor, "Whoever he does isn't your business anymore."
"But Willow-" Buffy tried lamely, any excuse to try to find answers to a situation that she was trying to make sense of, "Willow is -"
"Spike's business," Anya finished for her. "Willow is Spike's business. Now sit down, here comes Riley."
Buffy sat, trying to look happy to see him, but inside she was too preoccupied with what was happening on the dance floor.
"Did Willow and Spike break up?" Riley asked as he sat down. Apparently he had noticed the couple as well. "Who's that guy Willow's so friendly with out there?"
"Angel," Anya replied calmly but none of their eyes left the sight of Willow and Angel dancing so intimately on the dance floor.
Buffy was just noticing that they looked very comfortable with each other, looked like they had to have been this intimate before now, they just looked so right together, when Riley asked, "Buffy's Angel?"
"Used to be," Anya answered in a monotone, way too engrossed in what was before her. "Looks like he's Willow's now."
"Look who I found," Xander said as he walked up, bearing drinks for everyone. Caught off guard by the sound of his voice, everyone turned to see Spike following Xander to the table and they all jumped up at once, trying to block his view of the dance floor. Riley got there first.
"Hey, Spike," he said with an over large smile and offering his hand in greeting "Long time, no see."
Spike shook his hand, but looked at him as if he'd lost a few marbles on the way over. "Just saw me yesterday, mate. You feelin' all right?" The boy was kind of flushed, maybe he was coming down with something.
Spike pushed by Riley only to be stopped once again by Buffy. "Spike, um Spike, huh - oh, I know. I needed to talk to you about something. Come over here and sit down," she said, pointing to the chair next to hers that was on the other side of the table. He looked up and saw Willow and Angel dancing. The sight made him instantly hard. So that's what this is about, they're trying to save either Red or the poof, or maybe both, he thought with a smile. I'm still the big bad. Everyone's still afraid of the wrath of Spike. Good, let them show the proper respect. He knew he was kidding himself, but he let his ego take control for just a second before he decided to indulge the kiddies and see what they were up to.
"So, what's up Slayer?" he asked as he walked around the table, pulled out the chair next to Buffy's and turned it around before sitting down and resting his arms on the back of it.
"Well, its about, um," she looked around nervously, "Oh, patrol. It's about patrol. See, I have finals next week-"
"I know, Red has 'em too, remember?" he said, thinking it was a good thing her occupation didn't depend on using her grey matter. She was terrible at thinking on the fly. She'd make a horrible vampire - well, maybe a minion, her strength would be a plus.
"Yes, well, with all the finals I have I was hoping you'd take over patrol for me. Xander will help you, if you want," she added as an afterthought, trying to make it sound like she'd thought this all out.
"What the holy heck?" Xander said in a loud whisper as he finally caught on to what Anya had been trying to get him to notice on the dance floor.
"What?" said Spike, without turning around.
"What? How? What?" answered Xander, trying desperately to tear his eyes away from the dance floor and look at Spike. His brain finally registered what would happen if Spike saw what he was seeing. "Oh, patrol, yeah, sorry, caught me off guard, wasn't expecting to have to patrol with Fang, but uh, yeah, I guess, if… if… if…"
Spike turned and saw his sire running his hands down his Red's back and cupping her ass in what looked to be a very promising start to their night. The others didn't even notice when he left their table and went to set his beer down on the table Angel had acquired for them earlier. He stopped briefly in front of the DJ then he joined the couple on the dance floor without stopping to look back at the group of dumbstruck humans. He slid into place behind Willow and let his hands join his sire's as they explored the wonders of Willow's body. It was almost more erotic with her clothes on. Almost, but not quite.
An old song by Salt-n-Pepa started and Spike motioned for Angel to listen and watch the reactions of the Scoobies.
What's the matter with your life? Why you gotta mess with mine?Willow moaned and rubbed into Spike, twisting her body enough to pull him in for a kiss that let him know just how much she missed him. Not wanting Angel to feel neglected, she gave him a kiss just as passionate. When Angel pulled Spike's mouth into their kiss, she didn't feel slighted in the least; she felt wet. Very very wet with a side of burning hot. She didn't care what the citizens of Sunnydale thought of her dancing with and kissing two men at the same time; she didn't care what they thought when Spike grabbed Angel by the neck and pulled him into a kiss that got more intense by the second. The citizens of Sunnydale had never given her a second thought her entire life and if they had a problem with what she was doing now, that was just too darn bad. Like Spike said, most of them were probably envious.
Don't keep sweatin' what I do
Cuz I'm gonna be just fine - check it out
If I wanna take a guy home with me tonight
It's none of your business
And if she wanna be a freak and sell it on the weekend
It's none of your business
Now you shouldn't even get into who I'm givin' skin to
It's none of your business
So don't try to change my mind, I'll tell you one more time
It's none of your business
How many rules am I to break before you understandShe was roused out of her thoughts about the people of the town - I mean, she had to think about something other than Spike and Angel kissing, because if she thought about that for even one second longer, she wouldn't be able to walk out of here. The kiss must have ended because Spike was whispering something in her ear.
That your double-standards don't mean shit to me?
I know exactly what you say when I turn and walk away
But that's ok cuz I don't let it get it to me
Now every move I make somebody's clockin'
Don't ask me nothin', will you just leave me alone?
Never mind who's the guy that I took home...to bone
"What did you say, I didn't hear you."
"I said the cat's out of the bag, Love." And she felt Angel's hands turn her in the direction of a table filled with her friends, all staring at her like she had grown four more heads. What could she do? So she smiled and waved and went back to dancing with her family and tried, very unsuccessfully I might add, to forget they were there.
Ok, Miss Thing never givin' up skins"Childe, go get our stuff, we're leaving." Spike was about to suggest the same thing himself.
If you don't like him or his friends what about that Benz?
Your Pep-Pep's got an ill rep
With all that macaroni trap for rap you better step
Or better yet get your head checked
Cuz I refuse to be played like a penny cent trick deck of cards
No, I ain't hard like the bitches on a boulevard
If I wanna take a guy home with me tonight
It's none of your business
And she wanna be a freak and sell it on the weekend
It's none of your business
Now you shouldn't even get into who I'm givin' skin to
It's none of your business
So don't try to change my mind, I'll tell you one more time
It's none of your business
So the moral of this story is: Who are you to judge? There's only one true judge, and that's God So chill, and let my Father do His jobWhen he returned with Willow's wrap and bag and their coats, they stood on either side of Willow and put their arms around her waist, merely for support Yeah, right! and walked over to the table full of Scoobies.
"Night, guys," Angel said with a smile and he started to lead his companions away but stopped and walked back to the table.
"Spike, tell them."
"What?" Spike seemed confused.
"Tell them," Angel growled.
"Oh." Spike took a breath then said as quickly as possible, "Angel's my sire, not Dru."
Angel's face beamed as Anya commented, "I knew that."
"How?" Angel asked. First Cordy said she knew and now Anya did too?
"Well, look at him," was Anya's answer to Angel. "No way was Angelus gonna pass that up."
Angel smiled at the ex-demon, nodding to compliment her on her good taste later on. Right now, they had to get Willow out of here. He turned and he and Spike led Willow through the crowd and out the door. Spike tossed an off-hand wave over his shoulder.
"I never would have thought -"
"Willow's not like that -"
"Why is Angel here?"
"And Spike didn't even -"
"In fact he seemed to -"
"She was always so shy -"
"Seemed like such a nice girl."
"Hey! Watch what you say about my best friend!"
"I'm only sayin', you saw them -"
"Hey, Xan, do you think we could -"
"NO!"
"She can't be, not really, not Willow -"
Buffy had sat there in stunned silence listening to them all sputter out these insane phrases that didn't make any sense to her. Finally, she interrupted, "What are you all going on about?"
"Willow." Riley stated the obvious.
"What about her?" Buffy asked, curious.
"Her and Angel, did you not see that?" Xander asked his second oldest friend incredulously. "Yes, I saw them but obviously nothing's going on between them."
"WHAT?!" That was Anya.
"Well, Spike went right up to them and he didn't seem upset, so there can't be anything between her and Angel."
Xander fielded that one, "He couldn't say anything. Angel's tongue was halfway down his throat!"
Buffy waved his comment off, "Oh, that's just a sire/childe thing. Angel explained it to me once. It's a dominance thing."
The other three occupants at the table looked at her, then at each other. No one knew quite how to break it to her, so the men did the only thing they could do, they turned to Anya and motioned for her to explain things to Buffy.
Anya cleared her throat then began. She decided that bluntness was definitely called for on this occasion and Xander couldn't possibly get upset at her for what she was about to say.
"Buffy, get a clue. Sires control their childer by biting them, not french kissing them. Angel -"
"But," Buffy cut in, "When Spike came back, when Dru dumped him and he kidnapped you guys," she motioned toward Xander, "Before Spike left, Angel went out behind the magic shop to make sure Spike was leaving and not coming back, and I went out there - and they were - and he said - OH MY GOD!!!"
"Light finally dawns," Anya said with a sigh. She moved Riley out of the way so that she could put a consoling arm around the slayer. "It's very common for vampire families to have strong sexual relationships. And well, Willow's part of the family now."
"That's gross! That's - that's incest!" Xander yelled and Anya waited for the talking in the room to begin again before continuing. "No, they're vampires, not humans. And as Spike's sire, Angel has rights to anything that belongs to him."
"You mean Angel forced Willow to-" Riley stood and pulled a stake from his pocket.
"Sit down, GI Joe. Did Willow looked like she was being forced? More than likely it just happened."
"But things like - like that don't just happen. Maybe it was a spell!" Xander exclaimed, searching for something his brain could wrap around and understand. He was warming to this idea. "Somebody put all three of them under a spell or something."
Anya smiled at him indulgently. "Xander, hun, I love you but you really are clueless sometimes. Humans do it all the time. Threesomes, foursomes, you have heard of an orgy, right? They didn't make that word up just for the hell of it. People - real, mortal, human people do it all the time. I'm sure you know lots of people who indulge, but you don't hear about. Mostly because its none of your business. And whatever Willow, Spike and Angel are doing, as much as I'd love to hear every juicy detail…" Her eyes misted over and she got caught up in her thoughts for a few minutes.
"Ahn!" Xander interrupted her daydreaming.
"What?"
"You were saying?"
"Hm? Oh." She turned back to Buffy. "Well, whatever they're doing, it's none of your business either. It's none of our business."
"But… my Angel?" she asked Anya, confusion still evident.
Riley had had enough and stood. "Get a clue, Buffy. He's not your anything anymore." He nodded to Xander before making a hasty exit to find the first liquor store. Maybe he'd treat Lowell House to a kegger. Let them all feel like shit in the morning.
As for Willow, well, she didn't get the chance to dwell on what her friends thought of her; Spike and Angel kept her very busy for the rest of the weekend.