Chapter 7.02
Friday, May 10th, 2002

They were both silent in the car, but not an awkward silence, just an agreement between them that whatever needed to be said could wait. The vertical portion of the walk from Spike's car to the flat was only accomplished after many pauses, which went some way toward making Spike feel like a hypocrite and finally entailed him picking Buffy up and carrying her up the final flight and a half. Otherwise, he claimed he would have had to take her there on the stairs and damn the neighbours.

Buffy knew that by the time they reached the flat he would be impatient. She had planned it that way. She was counting on it in fact. Even as he set her on her feet and closed the front door, they continued to savour the taste of each other's mouths. Her hand moved to the front of his jeans, cupping and stroking the swelling there until she was sure he was ready for her.

Trailing kisses along his jaw-line she finally nipped and nibbled at his ear as her hands loosened his belt buckle. Spike backed her against the wall, one hand slipping between the layers of leather to tease the coarse curls at the juncture of her thighs, the other sliding under her top to cup her breast, his thumb teasing back and forward over her already erect nipple.

"Spike?" her voice came soft and throaty at his ear.

"What, love?"

"I want— I think it's time. The claim. Don't want to wait," she whispered.

He drew his head back, pinning her with his tender gaze, even as the hand beneath her skirt parted her warm wet folds. "You're totally sure?"

The slightest flicker of doubt crossed her face. "Ninety five percent sure," she answered.

"That's pretty certain," Spike conceded, his fingers gently stroking back and forward on her sensitive flesh. Without breaking eye contact, he lowered his head to suck on her free nipple through the fabric of her top.

"Ah ...as sure ...ahhh ...as I'm ...oh, oh ...going to get," Buffy struggled to make her reply as he eased a finger into her, while his thumb teased at the bundle of nerves within her hot moist lips. He set a steady rhythm with his thrusts and she ground against his hand urging him to move faster and harder, her hands ripping at his flies until he moved his hips out of reach. His hands and mouth caused waves of sensation to build within her, urging her toward a crescendo he wouldn't let her reach.

Buffy moaned her discontent as he stilled his movements, lifting his head and withdrawing his hand from between her legs to lick it clean.

"Please, Spike, please."

"Soon, baby. Going to feel good real soon." He nudged aside the straps on her top as far as he could with her coat still in place, pushing the material down to bare her breasts. Buffy grasped the lapels of his coat, roughly pulling him toward her.

"Not soon. Now, Spike. Now!" She smashed her mouth against his and this time when she popped the flies on his jeans, button by button, he let her. Her legs wrapped around his waist and he sank to his knees before laying her gently down on her back. His hand moved between her legs once more as his tongue explored her mouth. This time he plunged two fingers inside her, working them swiftly in and out. She bucked her hips beneath him, her hands reaching for his velvet smooth cock. Swifter than her lust-blurred senses could detect, with no perceptible break in rhythm Spike slammed home with his dick instead of his fingers.

Buffy screamed her pleasure mingled with a hint of pain at the suddenness of the invasion. Her inner muscles stretched to their maximum capacity with little preparation.

"That what you wanted, love?" Spike asked, his lips against her neck as he moved down to cover his mark with his lips.

"Yes ...oh God, yes," Buffy panted as his tongue probed the almost healed scars on her neck, electrical charges arcing through her body.

"Feels good, doesn't it? Fills your tight little pussy just right?" he murmured against her neck.

"Yes, Spike ...oh God ...harder."

Spike obliged, sliding a hand beneath her hips to change the angle and slamming hard against her clit with his pelvis with each thrust. "Feels so good, and it's all for you, Buffy. Only ever for you from now on."

"Mine," she answered. "Only mine."

As she spoke the words Spike brought forth his demonic visage and then kissed her as they both neared their peak. Buffy probed deep into his mouth with her tongue and then pulled it back into her mouth, using his fang to rip a tear in its upper surface as she did so.

The ragged stinging line of pain pushed her over the edge as the surge of her blood in his mouth brought him crashing with her.

Instinct took Spike over. "Mine!" he cried, before his fangs found their exact mark on her neck. Buffy made her own claim a fraction of a second later, forcing herself to bite down as hard as she could at the join of his neck and shoulder.

Spike raised his head, opening a cut on his tongue even as he changed back into human form. "Yours, forever, Buffy," he confirmed in a soft voice.

"And I'm yours, Will, until the end of the world." He licked gently at the puncture wounds in her neck until her blood stopped flowing, and she followed suit. The taste of their mingled blood filled their mouths.

At first Buffy put the light-headed feeling down to post-coital euphoria, but then she felt the familiar pounding through her veins. She was aware of her blood pumping through every vessel in her body, could almost see the individual cells. She felt a sense of foreboding, waiting for the slayer flashes to start, as they had when she tasted Dracula's blood. Instead, the visions when they came were anything but depressing.

@--`--,--`--,----

"Just say yes and make me the happiest man on earth."

"Oh, Spike! Of course it's yes."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Is there something I can do?"

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"Spike, I need an answer. Now. In or out? You're the only one strong enough to protect them."

"All right then. Ladies, come on in. "

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"You'll find her, just in the nick of time, that's what you hero types do."

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"Something's happening to me. I can't stop thinking about you."

"Uhh."

"And if that means turning my back on the whole evil thing—"

"...This is real. I love—"

@--`--,--`--,----

"No!" (Cough) "You can't ever. Glory never finds out."

"Why?"

"'Cause Buffy ...the other, not so pleasant Buffy ...anything happened to Dawn, it'd destroy her. I couldn't live, her bein' in that much pain. Let Glory kill me first. Nearly bloody did."

A kiss.

"...What you did, for me, and Dawn. That was real. I won't forget it.

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"...it would be like suicide."

"I'd do it ...Right person. Person I loved ...I'd do it.

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"We're not all gonna make it. You know that."

"Yeah. Hey. Always knew I'd go down fightin'."

"I'm counting on you... to protect her."

"Till the end of the world. Even if that happens to be tonight."

"I'll be a minute."

"Yeah. I know you'll never love me. I know I'm a monster. But you treat me like a man. And that's..."

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"How long was I gone?"

"Hundred forty-seven days yesterday. Uh. hundred forty-eight today.'Cept today doesn't count, does it?"

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"I think I was in heaven."

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"Why are you always around when I'm miserable?"

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"And the only person I can stand to be around is a ...neutered vampire who cheats at kitten poker."

@--`--,--`--,----

"Good fight."

@--`--,--`--,----

A kiss.

@--`--,--`--,----

"Good bye to you

Goodbye to everything I knew

You were the one I loved. "

@--`--,--`--,----

"Afraid I'm gonna—"

They kiss. Walls crack and plaster falls as they move against them, her legs wrapped around his body, and when they fall over backwards they go through the floor, but neither notices because their eyes are locked on each other, even as their bodies move to an ancient rhythm.

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"Get dressed, if you can find your clothes, and push off. 'Cause if I can't have all of you I'd rather—"

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"You don't belong here. You're something ...You're better than this."

"I need the money."

"I can get money ...Walk with me now, come on."

@--`--,--`--,----

Either side of the door to Spike's crypt they stand, their poses mirroring each other.

@--`--,--`--,----

"Tell me you love me."

"I love you. You know I do."

"Tell me you want me."

"I always want you. In point of fact—"

"Shut up."

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"I do want you. Being with you ...makes things simpler. For a little while."

@--`--,--`--,----

"You meet my friend?"

"No, not yet. But she seems like a very nice attempt at making me jealous."

"Is it working?"

"A little. It doesn't change anything ...but if you're wildly curious, yeah, it hurts."

"I'm sorry."

@--`--,--`--,----

"I don't hurt you."

"I know."

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"You know what my answer's going to be."

"I could make an informed guess."

"So is it okay to kiss you yet?"

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"You know I'm counting on you to be the long-haul guy, don't you?"

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"Will, I ...I'm not in love with you ...but I do love you."

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In the bathroom, wearing the clothes they wore on their first date. He undresses and bathes her.

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"I love you. I'm not in this to take what I want and leave you hanging. I want to make you happy."

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"Door's still open, pet. Bite down."

@--`--,--`--,----

"No sister-flower would be forgiven

If it disdain'd its brother

And the sunlight clasps the earth

And the moonbeams kiss the sea

What are all these kissings worth

If thou kiss not me?"

@--`--,--`--,----

"Say it, slayer."

"I said I'm in love with you. I'm in love with Spike. I, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, am in love with, William the Bloody, master vampire and Slayer of Slayers."

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"In that case, Buffy, my love, would you please do me the honour of consenting to be my wife?

"I will."

@--`--,--`--,----

Backseat of the DeSoto. (SILENT "I. Love. You. I. Want. You. Forever.")

.. "I want you. I love you. Forever."

"Mine!"

"Yours. Forever."

@--`--,--`--,----

Her in his arms, leaning against the tree by her mother's grave.

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Her shielding him with her body as Stephen attacked.

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Him swinging her in his arms, black leather coats swirling as they look into each other's eyes.

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Dancing in a moonlit parking lot to the car radio. Walking together on the beach. Her standing in his arms as the waves crashed around them.

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Both of them watching Dawn try on her dress for the prom.

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"You're not just special, you're precious."

His hands on her shoulders, their heads tilting forward to rest forehead to forehead, gazes interlocked.

"...And here you are, my beginning and my end."

@--`--,--`--,----

Sparring at the Magic Box. Him coming up behind her and holding her in his arms .Her tying his bootlaces.

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The two of them sitting side by side on the floor of the flat's bathroom, talking.

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Him laying her gently on the hall carpet, only minutes ago.

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A small reception room. "True colors" playing as they move in time, oblivious to everything but the joy and the love apparent on the other's face.

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Images passed through her mind, flashing through and gone almost before she recognised them, like the books of "moving" pictures you would riffle through as a child. One constant in almost all the images, the look of love in his eyes and in the later ones, the same look in hers.

Slowly, she became aware of a gentle hand stroking her face. Her eyelids fluttered open and he was there above her, that same look in his eyes again.

"I guess you changed your mind about 'Wind Beneath My Wings' then, pet."

@--`--,--`--,----

I see your true colours shining through
True colours and that's why I love you
So don't be afraid, to let them show
Your true colours (true colours) are beautiful, like a rainbow.

@--`--,--`--,----

The End

The story continues in Ring of Fire