Slip Slide Melting

Okay, the prologue is screwing me up with regards to numbering chapters, so... here's parts 12 & 13 in one shot.

This comprises part 13. Now I'm matching, so... part 14 will actually BE part 14. :)

Thanks to those who've reviewed. Always appreciated and adored!

* * * * * * * * *
Part 12

Silk sheets.

Xander… had silk sheets.

Spike almost growled as his mind—demon and soul both—searched for reasons their bloke would have silk sheets on his bed that didn’t involve some other bloke or chit being in that bed.

‘Perhaps he merely enjoys the feel of them against his skin,’ the soul-y portion of his psyche murmured, fascinated with the notion of how the tanned body would look against the rich blue.

‘Yeah, right,’ the demon snarled possessively, ‘because Sire had them for himself, right? No, they were for that bitch Darla!’

‘Yes, but Sire was nearly a peasant,’ the soul observed smugly. ‘He didn’t know any better, did he? In fact, he would likely have dressed in homespun if given his druthers…’

The demon snorted loudly enough to echo through Spike’s head. ‘Thought you weren’t supposed to lie, ponce. Sire was a land-owner’s son. Gentry. Landed Gentry.’

And the soul laughed, proud of itself for making the demon admit to its knowledge. ‘Got you, didn’t I? And if I’m a ponce, what does that make you? An evil ponce?’

‘And don’t you forget it, tosser.’

“Nice sheets,” the vampire said with a suppressed growl, the internal dialogue passing in less than a second. “Didn’t figure you for the type, mate.”

Just like that, Xander found himself stopping a mere three feet or so from the bed.

He turned and looked at Spike, one brow arching. “There’s a type, now? For sheets? Huh.” He cocked his head slightly, giving the naked vampire an appraising gaze. “See, I always figured it wasn’t the sheets themselves but what you put between them… and I was kinda hoping that would be you, baby…”

A snort. “Yeah, and you ran off and changed them during the what? Three seconds my back was turned earlier? Not likely, bloke.”

Xander blinked then laughed, giving a hard yank on the blond’s hand and catching him against his chest with a grin. “Not that it’s any of your business, buddy, but I started using them when I realized I wanted you, okay? I guess…” he blushed slightly, “I figured they were as close as I was gonna get to the way I thought your skin would feel. And by the way, Spike…? I was right. They’re close… but nowhere near as good.”

He watched while the vampire closed his eyes and took a deep unneeded breath. “I’m using them because of you, Spike,” he said again, clarifying the thought, “and I’m glad, okay? You deserve silk sheets. And I deserve to see you writhing against them when I fuck you, baby… when I spread you out, all that pale, perfect skin stretched tight…”

Spike groaned and opened his eyes, fairly sure they were more amber than blue right at that moment. “Sorry, luv,” he murmured, his free hand sliding slowly up tanned skin, fingers caressing each raised ridge of muscled rib, “tend to get a bit…”

“Possessive?” the brunette offered with a wry grin. “Kinda already knew that. Expected it, Spike. You know, what with the ‘serious enough and I don’t share well’ thing.” He nodded, his smile becoming a touch more intent as he spoke directly into the sheepish eyes. “And maybe I should tell you… I don’t share. At all. Well or badly. It… it was one thing when you thought I was a whore, okay? I could… walk away from that and tell myself that it was what it was. But now, Spike…”

The vampire growled again, louder this time. “Not looking to be shared, Xander. Had enough of that in my younger days, yeah? Not saying I love you. I don’t. Not in love with you, either. Just… I need…” his voice faltered, even as the taller man’s arm pulled him closer.

“You need to belong somewhere… and with someone. I know. And so what if it’s not a… what did you call it before?” Xander frowned then nodded. “Yeah. A ‘grand passion’. So what if it’s not one of those? It’s not like either of us has time for that anyway, right? You’ve got a whole world to learn again, and…”

“And you’ve got a good bit of that same world to run. So this… us…”

“Is serious enough that we don’t fuck around on each other—because we’re friends and we’re good together—but not so serious that we’re gonna pull an Andrew and Thomas any time soon.”

Spike couldn’t help laughing at the idea of himself and Xander Harris of all people getting married. “Yeah… not that kind of serious, luv…”

“Good,” Xander said with a nod as he pulled his hand from the hold of the long, elegant fingers still entwined with his own. “So do you think we can get back to the fucking now? Too much talk; not enough my cock in your ass.”

“Bloody hell,” Spike groaned, arching his hips into the other man’s and gasping when his shaft rubbed against the reawakened erection Xander was sporting, “just do me one favour, pet…?”

His own moan was almost echoingly loud as his hands found the narrow but rounded and toned cheeks of Spike’s ass and Xander nodded. “Just tell me and it’s yours, baby. Swear.”

“Never… tonight or any other night… never ask me ‘who’s your Magus’ while you’re shagging me, yeah?” The vampire shuddered dramatically. “That’d be too bloody disturbing.”

Xander pretended to think about it as he pulled the willing blond to his bed. “What about when I’m not shagging you, baby?” he murmured before he pushed Spike down onto the silk sheets and cut off any reply by the simple expedient of swallowing it through open lips.

* * * * *

“Pet… pet-Xan-luv… p-pet…” Spike nearly whined, his hips arching from the mattress as a fourth finger joined the first three inside him, stretching him slowly even while the longest digit continued its teasing brushes against his prostate, “P-please… bloody f-fucking hell, Xan… n-need…” He keened loudly.

The brunette smirked. He’d already made Spike come twice, just by fingering him. He hadn’t even touched the vampire’s cock, either. No, he’d just slid his hand back and forth, in and out, fingertips nudging here and there as he spread his knuckles, stretching the blond wickedly.

Hell, the first time Spike came from it, he’d been both proud and amused. The second time, he’d been purely proud—especially since Spike was strong enough and fast enough that he could have simply pulled away and rolled them, and then…

But Spike hadn’t, and for some reason, Xander felt like… maybe his vampire needed this just as much as he needed to fuck him. And if that was true… Xander could wait. For a little while longer, anyway.

“Hush, baby,” he murmured against the so-soft skin of Spike’s inner thigh, “Gonna give you everything you need… everything you want. Gonna slide into you, wrap your legs around me… Fuck, baby, I’m gonna do just what I said and maybe more… gonna have you on bed-rest for days after. Promise, okay? Just… think you need this too, Spike. Let me, hmmmm…?”

“Y-y-yeah…” Spike heard himself whimpering as he forced himself to relax as much as he could while Xander was… somehow eliminating all the pain he’d been expecting—the pain his demon had been expecting.

The fact that the expected pain was pain that hadn’t materialized was irrelevant, he figured. Some part of him had still been waiting for it. Waiting for the gentle, probing touches to become harshly forceful and violent. Waiting for the tender words to become tearing insults. Waiting for the sudden, blood-letting thrust into his almost unprepared hole as a dark, evil voice told him how useless he was, how he should never have been turned, how he would never be a proper vampire, or even a decent fuck.

Yes, he’d been expecting pain—not to mention heartache—but he surely hadn’t found it, and every time Xander stroked those hot, thick fingers into him, twisting them and somehow gently finding and caressing every tiny bit of his insides that had been hurt, torn, abused… he felt himself healing… felt himself letting go of much of the anger and betrayal and self-loathing that had been imposed by the one being who was supposed to have been his…

‘Doesn’t matter,’ the soul whispered. ‘Long ago. Far away. Over now. Time to move on… we may not love him, but he treats us…’

‘The way we’ve always wanted to be treated,’ the demon agreed in a rare moment of unity with it’s purer half. ‘And Sire’s gone. Human! Xander… Xander can be Sire now. Take over that place in us…’

‘In our heart,’ the soul finished, ‘and without loving us. Without having us love him.’

Spike moaned, barely hearing either of his voices as he writhed on the silk, fingers digging into it and the mattress beneath as he came again, eyes rolled back and legs spreading wider. “P-please, Xan… n-no more without… you in m-me…”

It was the fact that his vampire’s straining anus gripped just as tightly around four fingers as it had done around two that had Xander nodding in time with his shakily muttered “Uh-huh... gonna do it now, baby, gonna be in you… fuck, Spike, gonna fuck you all night and into the morning.”

His free hand groped across the sheets, finally finding the discarded tube and his fingers twisted one more time in the blond’s hole as he bit the cap off and spat it away before squeezing a long, thick trail of slick gel along his own turgid length.

Spike moaned, sure he’d be embarrassed by the needy sound of his own voice later, but that was fine. Xander… Xander had done something to him. Something that made him feel almost… clean. And he’d be damned if he’d let a little thing like a bit of private embarrassment stop him now.

“Take a few days off,” he groaned, anticipation building as his bloke pulled those wonderful fingers from him and leaned over his body. He turned his head, mouth finding the inner surface of one wrist as strong, tanned hands settled to either side of his head and he pressed a slow, wet kiss there. “Want to feel you, Xan… not sure the next ten hours is going to be enough.”

‘Thank the Gods for cock rings’, Alex thought before Xander managed to push him to the back of his mind again.

“Oh, you’re gonna feel me, baby… gonna feel me for days. Promised, didn’t I?” Xander murmured, looking down into fully amber eyes beneath a ridged brow. He moved his hips slightly, moaning when he felt the seeping tip of his cock brush against the stretched hole it wanted to live in.

“Gonna feel you, too,” he whispered, his forehead meeting the blond’s. “Gonna feel you so tight around me, Spike… feel you opening to me—for me. Gods, you’re gonna feel so good, baby. Not gonna last. Gonna come in like three seconds, and I don’t care.” He moaned, pushing at that Heaven with his hips. “Let me… Gods, Spike, can I…”

“Yesssssss,” the vampire hissed, legs rising to clasp at his bloke’s ribs as he pressed down and back, forcing just the tip of the heated, slick shaft into his already breached ring. “Xander! P-please…!”

And Magus Prime or not… ruler of a good portion of the globe or not… in that moment, he was just a man, Xander knew. Just a man who was finally—finally—getting the one thing he’d always wanted, even if he hadn’t known it a week earlier.

“G-gods… S-spike…” he stuttered, pressing deeper as he stared into those wide eyes from a mere inch away, “Y-you f-feel…” he shook his head, words lost as the knees against his ribs shifted and there were suddenly heels pressing into his spine, swiftly followed by fingers gripping his ass, pulling him closer.

“B-bloody fuck!” Spike grunted, something inside him tightening as he watched Xander’s eyes go from deep brown to star-flecked black, “Amazing, Xan… you’re so s-sodding b-b-beautiful… need… b-bloody… fuck me, Xander! P-please!”

He didn’t even hear Alex telling him once again to ‘do what the nice vampire said’. In fact, Xander barely heard the vampire, either. His cock was a good third of its length into the tightest, most perfect sheath it had ever known, and wide golden-amber-orange eyes were spearing his own, and there were strong, slender limbs wrapped around him, urging him on, and…

His body took over, slamming his cock deep into the well-prepared hole, cock finding and marking the location of the spongy nub that created such wonderful cries and screams… his chest dropped, pressing desperately against the cooler one beneath him, his nipples rubbing roughly and enticingly against matching male nipples as his vision filled with golden-blue, bluish-gold…

He could feel himself swelling, feel his cock growing thicker, thicker… thicker still…

And when he heard the odd pinging noise, then heard the sound of something somewhere shattering, he didn’t give it a thought because he was too busy spilling himself hard and deep and rough and wild into the perfection of the grasping, rocking, wanting channel wrapped around him. “S-spike!” he heard himself shout, and that cleared up all the whys he hadn’t asked.

Heaven… he was in Heaven and there was no way he was leaving it; not when they’d made a mistake and let him in. His arms clasped harder around the hot, shuddering body above him, even as his legs flexed again, pulling the swiftly softening shaft deeper and he moaned happily as one more spurt of what felt like thick, rich, hot spunk splashed against his prostate. “Xander,” he groaned again, his own cock twitching in an effort to match that last splash although it couldn’t.

As it was, though, Spike had never felt as thoroughly shagged in his entire existence. And so what if the actual shagging had lasted only minutes? His entire body was thrumming and vibrating with it, and… he’d known hours of a thick, hard dick in his ass before. Hours that had brought only pain and torment. This was better.

“Xander,” he murmured again, blinking at the muttered ‘hmmm…’ that responded.

“Nothing, luv,” he said quickly, lips pressing lightly to his bloke’s temple. “Just… saying your name, yeah…?”

“Why’s that?” the brunette muttered, rubbing his cheek against his vampire’s pronounced jaw as he pressed a soft kiss to the earlobe before him.

Spike shrugged a little—as much as he could with the welcome weight pressing him into the mattress—and then he groaned, feeling the shaft within him hardening again at his motion. “Bloody hell, pet,” he chuckled softly, changing the subject, “You’re like the bleeding energizer bunny with that thing, aren’t you?”

Xander grinned and dropped his lips to Spike’s shoulder, giving it a hard nip. “Been called worse,” he finally murmured as his hips shifted slightly, pressing closer, moving back… slowly building to full-on thrusts within the overflowing sheath of Spike… his Spike.

He'd made the blond a promise, after all, and one thing Xander Harris always prided himself on was keeping his word.

* * * * * * * * *
Part 13

“Yes…?”

“Hey, Winnie,” Xander greeted the young woman who’d answered the hexicon, “Your older self around?”

Rowan Rosenberg laughed quietly. “Of course she is, Uncle Xan. It’s Friday, after all. Where else would she be but waiting for your call?”

“Hey, I don’t know,” the Magus said with a grin. “She could be off doing… whatever it is you witchy types do in your free time. Uh, what would that be, again?”

An amused snort. “Oh, you know, Uncle… shifting the Earth’s axis to see what difference it makes in the harmonic tones of the mystical star-spheres and such. Child’s play, really.”

Xander laughed. “Well, as long as you shift it back, I guess I can’t be too upset, right?” Hell, Rowan’s myriad joking answers to that question never ceased to amuse him. He hoped she was joking, anyway. “How go the studies, by the way? You’re up for your fourth level exams soon, right?”

The young redhead sighed. “I’m so ready, Xander. Hell, I’ve been ready for almost a year, but you know Willow. Just because I’m another version of her, she’s all worried that I’ll go power-mad on her. I mean, honestly, Uncle. It’s not like I had a Tara, right? She just…”

Xander chuckled and shook his head, even though the girl couldn’t see him. “She doesn’t want you to make the same mistakes she did, Row… and maybe she’s a little obsessive.” He chuckled more at the barely heard mutter ‘you think?’. “Besides… if she’d let you test early, the rest of the covens would have gotten in line to scream nepotism, no matter how well you did, right?”

Rowan sighed again. “I know. I know you’re right, Uncle. It’s just so frustrating! I’m strong enough—good enough—that I could really help her, but until I pass those bloody level four exams, I’m stuck twiddling my thumbs, more or less, and meanwhile, Willow’s got so much bloody work to do that she barely has time to sleep, much less eat or enjoy herself… and I didn’t just say that, alright? She’d kill me if she knew I’d told you and I rather like being alive, thanks.”

His eyes closed for a moment as Xander frowned. Rowan was another ‘mirror-twin’, just like Lex. Although not just like Lex in the ways that counted. Rowan wasn’t… petulant. Hell, she was more of an adult than Xander was, sometimes.

Willow had also raised her younger self in a manner unlike the way she had been raised, but… Sheila and Ira Rosenberg had never been bad people. They’d simply been unconcerned about their daughter while Willow had been growing up. Except for the whole trying to burn her at the stake thing, Xander reminded himself, but that had been an exception to their usual disinterest, and it had been Sheila rather than both of them, but still...

No, Willow had raised Rowan with strict rules, but also with an abundance of interest and loving concern. Hell, Xander doubted his oldest and dearest friend could have loved the young redhead more if she’d given birth to her herself.

“Yeah,” he said, pulling himself from his thoughts, “I know. And I won’t say anything, but… tell me, Rowan. Are the other covens not pulling their weight? Do I need to get the Magi Council to kick some ass down there? Because they’d love to, you know. Hell, the Arch Magus is always bitching about the Council not having enough of a presence there.”

Rowan snorted again. “Oh, absolutely. Because Willow would just love to have the bloody Council mucking about on our turf.” She chuckled softly. “No, Xander. And it’s not the covens, anyway. It’s Willow. You know how she is. Very… hands-on. Possibly too much so, but that’s definitely going to change once I’ve got my fourth level certification. She may be able to intimidate the other covens into letting her handle everything, but she can’t intimidate me!”

And that was Wills all over again.

And nothing like Lex.

Crap.

“Well, I’m sure about that, sweetheart. And since she’s the one who raised you, she’ll have no one to blame but herself, right?” Xander grinned, knowing the girl could hear the expression in his voice. “So what are you up to tonight, Winnie?” he added, changing the subject.

The girl laughed. “I’m so going to remember that and use it against her later, Uncle. And as for tonight… I have a date.”

“Oh? Again?” the man pried, “Same as last week, or is this a different demon entirely?” The girl did tend to play the field. Not that he blamed her.

She was young, beautiful, and smart as a whip… not to mention more than powerful enough to protect herself. Besides, how would she find the right partner if she didn’t look? Rowan was enough like Willow that she’d be more stable if she was involved in a relationship that worked for her, after all.

He could almost hear the girl blushing when she answered.

“Both, actually,” Rowan muttered, as close to silently as possible. “The guy from last week, and his twin sister…”

And suddenly Xander was laughing louder than he’d done in days.

“Well, good,” he told the girl, “Go. Have fun. And Rowan… just because Willow’s happy with one lover, that doesn’t mean you have to be. You know that, right? She… we… are products of the pre-Change world, y’know? But you’re not. You should do whatever makes you happy.”

The redhead’s sigh was relieved this time.

“Thanks, Uncle Xan… oh, and Willow’s back. She’s got a whole pot of tea, so I’m guessing you’re in for quite a chat. Love you…”

“Love you too, Row,” Xander replied, even as he heard the girl moving away.

“Xander!” Willow said quickly, “What have you been telling the girl? She just ran out of here with a shit-eating grin on her face… and why is a ‘shit-eating grin’ supposed to be a good thing? I mean, I‘d think eating… that… would make someone frown, or at least be sick, but no. ‘Shit-eating grin’ somehow means self-satisfied and proud and isn’t that just wrong, somehow?”

Yet again, Xander was laughing. “Well, it depends, I guess. Sharvith’c demons would be smiling, right?”

* * * * *

Nearly an hour later, Xander was still chuckling. “No… no, Wills. Seriously. You can not do a seeking on her dates. Not until it’s serious enough for Rowan to bring them home to meet the parents.”

“But, but… they could hurt her, Xan… and she’s so young, and I remember how it feels to be…”

“Willow,” he said sternly, wishing he could see her so he could give her ‘the look’, “She’s older than you were when you hooked up with Oz. And… Gods, don’t curse me or anything, but… she’s got a much better self-image, okay? Besides… you raised her right. She’ll be fine. And even if she’s not… even if she ends up with a broken heart, how can you deny her the right to take that risk? You can’t keep her locked away and only let her do things—see people—that you know will never hurt her. She’s not the type to do well with ‘safe’.” ‘And neither were you,’ he whispered silently.

‘You got that right, Xander,’ Alex commented. ‘Hell, she dated Oz knowing he was a werewolf. And fell for Tara, who was a very powerful witch. Not to mention that bitch Kennedy. Willow doesn’t do safe.’

‘I know,’ Xander muttered, ‘but try getting her to see that.’

“Speaking of risks,” Willow interjected into Xander’s inner dialogue, “what’s this I hear about you and Spike? I thought Spike was dead, but here I am, hearing rumours about you and him, and okay, not exactly rumours because I heard it from Faith, but still! Spill, mister! Or do I have to come there so you can see the resolve face?”

The man blushed, then paled slightly before responding.

“Uh… don’t get your tail in a twist, Wills. It’s… I was gonna tell you, but… and then, well…”

“Just tell me now, Xander. You know I’m not gonna let this go until you do, so…”

Xander sighed, groaned, then banged his head against the desk a few times. “Fine, Willow. It happened like this…”

* * * * *

Another hour later and Willow was obviously smiling. He could hear it in her voice.

“So… if you’re done pulling way too many intimate details out of me, I think I’ll be going to… uh, sleep. It’s, uh… getting late,” Xander grumped, shifting in his chair in an effort to relieve the pressure of the tight pants on his cock. Talking about Spike had led to thinking about Spike, and he’d be damned if he was going to let that thinking go to waste.

And now the witch was laughing. “Okay, Xander. Go find your boyfriend. Oh, and tell him to call me, okay? I want to tell him how happy I am that he’s back! I… well, with everything that’s changed, I guess I’m sorry for how I treated him, y’know?”

Xander groaned. “Is that just an excuse to give him the infamous ‘shovel speech’?” he demanded, “because I told you, Wills. We’re just…”

“Just friends. With benefits. Yeah, I heard you,” the redhead interrupted. “I really do just want to talk to him, Xan. But, um… if the word ‘shovel’ ends up being mentioned, well…”

And he was laughing again. “Fine. Just don’t scare him off, okay? I…” Xander sighed. “Oh, hell. I really like him, Willow.”

“I know, Xan… I know…” she said softly. “Hell, we all knew. Except you, apparently.”

“Oh, hey,” she added, quickly changing the subject, “Is Lex gonna make his lesson tomorrow night? Because if he’s not, then Rowan and I have something we can work on here, and…”

“He’ll be there,” Xander answered with a laugh. “Spike’s decided that he wants to ride herd on my boy. Should be funny, if nothing else.”

“Or scary,” Willow agreed. “You know… for Lex.”

She wouldn’t ordinarily condone letting a vampire—even a souled one—take that sort of responsibility for a child, but in this case… she figured Lex had brought it on himself.

“As ye sow, so shall ye reap,” she laughed, imagining what the boy would make of his new… Spike.

* * * * *

Gods, his new watchdog was taking his job way too seriously for Lex’s liking. Hell, he’d barely managed to go to the bathroom by himself, and when he’d finally come back out, the man had still been standing there, head tilting slightly as he pushed himself away from the wall.

“Right, then,” Spike said with an amused chuckle at the boy’s annoyance, “Took you long enough. Might want to see a doctor if that’s normal for you, yeah?”

The young man groaned and tried to ignore his new blond shadow as he strode off down the hall towards the library.

The vampire smirked, easily keeping pace with the obviously irritated brunette. “Especially if it always results in that look on your face, mate. Might need some fiber supplements or something. Hear tell they’re supposed to keep you… breathing sorts all… regular,” he added, continuing his earlier line of conversation in a deliberate attempt to push the boy from annoyed to angry. Best way to find out what the brat was made of, wasn’t it?

“Seriously, bloke,” he went on, “Can’t be good to be all… bound up like that, right? Been told it does not-so-nice things to a bloke’s insides, yeah? Might even affect the old tackle, I’d say, and then where would you be?”

And Lex had no idea of how Xander managed to spend more than five minutes with the vampire. Gods, the blond hadn’t shut up for more than the space of a breath since he’d attached himself to him like a barnacle earlier that afternoon, and even those brief pauses were too short and led to still more words!

“I’m not…” Lex heard himself snarling, then forced himself to stop. It wouldn’t do him any good to yell at his Dad’s lover, after all, and… thank Gods, the Library! “Look, I have a lesson to get to. So just… stay out here like a good little bodyguard and I’ll be out when I’m done, okay?”

The vampire snorted but took up a position similar to the one he’d kept while waiting for the bloke a few minutes earlier. “Right, then. Have a good class or whatever.”

“Okay, that was way too easy,” Lex muttered to himself, even as he locked the Library door between him and the blond. Then again, maybe he deserved to have something be easy for a change. Of course, he didn’t really care about that right at the moment.

In fact, what he cared about was… Spike was on the other side of the door. And Lex was going out.

* * * * *

Spike looked down at the sensor he pulled from his pocket and snorted. “Yeah, the boy’s on the move. Knew that just from listening to his heartbeat, didn’t I?”

He also knew that none of the boy’s guards had managed to figure out how the brat was leaving the Citadel without being seen, but Spike had one advantage that none of them did; not even Angel.

He thought like a criminal. And since the boy went out of his way to act like one, the vampire figured they had a bit in common.

A sly smirk crossed his lips and he pressed the green button on the portable hexicon Xander’d given him a few days earlier. “Hey, pet,” he purred when he heard his bloke’s voice answer softly, “That brat of yours is moving on out. Thought you might like to know.”

He chuckled softly and shook his head in amusement at the string of expletives the news got him.

“Now, now… no need to worry, luv. Told you I’d take care of your Lex problem, didn’t I? Just forgot what you told me about that bloody charm that’s supposed to glamour me up. How do I turn it on again?”

* * * * *

Free! He was free! For a little while, anyway… for as long as it took the Guards to figure out he was gone and find him again, and maybe that would be enough.

He strode quickly through the side streets, staying away from the main roads for the moment. It was close to the time for shift-change at the Citadel, after all, and if one of the Guards reporting in managed somehow to see through his glamour, it would all be over. Still, ten blocks later, he figured it was relatively safe and he set his feet to traveling quickly towards the vampire sector and the new club he’d heard about.

Okay, granted. Vampire club and that always meant blood whores, but this club…

Well, he’d heard it was more than that. In fact, some of the kids on one of his Magetrix groups said they’d been there and it was more like a regular demon club… that the blood whores were subtle and usually kept to the back room.

So, yeah. He was going to ‘Stains’ and he was going to dance and have a few drinks, and maybe even find himself someone to…

The idea alone had him hardening in his pants and he moved faster, feet slapping the pavement as he approached the guarded entry. He shifted his glamour slightly, flashing fangs and a ridged brow to the gate guard and grinning toothily when he was waved through without even being asked for his papers, which was fortunate because his Dad’s new boyfriend-- he sneered silently—had been so annoying that Lex had forgotten to collect them from his room.

Of course, angry wasn’t the emotion he wanted to be feeling when he found the club, so he pushed the thought away, along with all memory of the blond who’d been so instrumental in trapping him the last time he’d… escaped.

* * * * *

Spike snorted as he followed the boy. ‘Bloody prat’s going to get himself killed if he isn’t careful,’ the demon whispered, disgusted by the fact that the young man hadn’t looked behind him even once since they’d caught up with him.

‘Then it is indeed fortunate that we are here, is it not? Xander would be most distressed if anything were to happen to Lex,’ the soul announced, trying very hard not to agree with its darker half.

The demon grumbled unhappily. ‘Well, something needs to happen to the git. If only to make him see what he’s doing. He’s our responsibility now. We can’t let Sire… Xander down.’

Both of his parts had valid points, Spike figured. Lex was well on his way to winding up dead in an alley somewhere if he didn’t get his head out of his ass, and soon. And if that happened, Xander would never forgive himself. And he’d never forgive Spike, either.

So.

Something was going to happen to the boy sooner or later. Maybe Spike should just make sure it happened that night, while he was nearby to stop it.

“Yeah… throw a scare into the pillock. Teach him a lesson and all that. Maybe bring him down a peg or two so he can be built back up the right way.”

Sure, it was mean. Manipulative, even. But even with a soul, Spike was still a demon.

He watched the brunette slow, then stop in front of what was obviously a club of some sort, then chuckled when he recognized the name over the door.

He’d read about this place on the Magetrix, and… bloody hell, the boy couldn’t have played into his hands better if he’d tried.

“This is going to be fun,” he chuckled, even as he pulled out his hexicon again and punched a few buttons for ‘information’.

* * * * *

tbc...