Quid Pro Quo

Chapter 15 – A New Angle


This time Buffy knew what to expect from the feeding, and as a result, she licked her lips in anticipation of the sensations Spike would cause to her system. This time, when his fangs pricked her skin, pleasure coursed through her instead of pain. And then with Spike’s first pull of blood, her head got light; then her whole body felt like she was floating. Another draw, and then another. Visions started flashing behind her closed eyelids. Sex. Intense sex with-- and only with-- Spike. The house was falling down around them, but reality changed into a wish that he had bitten her on the neck that night. In the dream, she unzipped Spike’s pants and lowered herself down onto Spike’s shaft. Ahhh, he fit her so well, and their rhythm began. Every time he slid up into her was in time with his pull of her blood in her dreams and in reality. She loved the vision. She loved the feel. She loved him.

His hand slid down from her elbow to her wrist. He could feel the pulse beating in her wrist, a rapid rhythm. He shouldn’t be doing this. What he should do is gnaw off his hand like a wolf in a trap before moving a millimeter closer to the source of blood she was offering. Well, he might as well start chewing. Sliding farther down without him realizing it, his fingers intertwined with her petite ones, a gesture so natural.

Opening her eyes, she looked at the blond hair of her love. As he retracted his fangs, she promised herself that she would double her efforts. She would get him back.

After retracting his fangs, Spike took a step back. He didn’t know it, but he had been visualizing the same images of the house that they had caused to fall down. Unlike her, he fought the feelings that the vision evoked, but he knew he was losing the battle. With every pull of her blood brought him that much closer to her. He started walking away to escape.

Buffy matched Spike’s steps, staying close to him. Not giving him time to move, she stepped in front of him and placed her hand behind his head. She pulled him into a kiss. She quickly let up on the pressure to pull back and gage his reaction. He wasn’t pulling away; he wasn’t frowning. All systems go. She pulled him back down.

His mouth stayed closed at first, but Buffy could work with that. Sliding her fingers into the short curls at the base of his neck, she brought him as close as possible, giving no room for escape. Her tongue left through her own lips to slide along his. Just tasting his lips made her tingle down to her toes, but then his mouth opened. Buffy quickly slid her tongue inside, searching out his own. When they finally touched, she moaned deep in her throat

He had sworn to himself that he wasn’t going to be drawn into her embrace again, not another kiss, but who was he kidding? He couldn’t resist her. He never could, and he wasn’t so sure he wanted to. Sugar and spice and everything nice and tasty. That was Buffy to him. He had rarely seen her sweet side in Sunnydale, but spicy? Oh, how many ways he had seen her spicy side. Bantering, fighting, and even sex, but this was a sweet side that made him want to sink into her warmth.

Buffy knew that he tasted like home. Her home, and she wanted to come back to that cherished place for good.

When they both had to come up for air, Spike took the opportunity to break the embrace and walk ahead, trying to get his equilibrium back. To Buffy, the kiss had been short but had meant everything to her. When he walked away, she was comforted that the expression on his face matched her own. He had felt their connection, too.

He stopped at the edge of a pool of something that looked like water but with bubbles coming up as if it were boiling. How deep? He couldn’t tell for sure due to the black color. It was deep enough that his lantern’s light did not reach the bottom. No telling how deep it was.

Buffy’s words brought him back to the conversation that he would rather avoid. “You were back and didn’t tell me.”

“I was a bloody ghost – dialing challenged, pet.” The lantern swung from his waving arms.

Buffy was a dog not going to give up a bone. “But later you became a real boy again, a boy that could have dialed the phone.”

“Well…I…I just didn’t want to.” ‘Lame. So lame,’ Spike admonished himself.

No matter the pain his comment elicited, Buffy held her ground and went back on the offensive. “You loved me.”

Turning his back to her, he cursed that his heart was so easily warmed by her words, her mere mention of his tender feelings he had and still did hold for her. “Maybe I’ve smartened up.” But he still swam in the deep end of denial.

“Have you? Have you really? I haven’t stopped loving you. I watched you die and that took a piece of my heart. Then more of my heart slipped away in this last year without you. And now…now my heart has been chipping away each day we have been together on this trip. Your cold shoulder towards me is tearing me up. So have you…geez, this is hard…have you stopped loving me?”

Hard? Hell, yes. Pacing, wanting to lie, Spike rubbed his hand over his face. In the end, he could only tell her the truth. “No, but don’t hold that against me. I’m just a daft wanker that works hard getting my heart shattered.”

He may be disgusted, but she was encouraged. Buffy pleaded her case. “And the Immortal…I know that really bothers you, but I was under a spell.”

Spike turned and looked her eye to eye. “He’s the Immortal, which means a long string of your type before you. He’s an indiscriminate fucker. Did you think you were special? A bleeding special flavor of the month maybe.”

Buffy was wounded, her heart bleeding but snapped back. “So are you so lily white. There’s been somebody you were with, wasn’t there?” It was a complete bluff on her part. If he had still loved her as he had admitted, he would have been loyal to his heart and to her. That was Spike. She was just drawing at straws due to her frustration.

Spike hoped she hadn’t noticed him wince. Bloody hell, did she know about Harmony? Did Angel spill? Ok, Spike ole boy, you have one option. Lie. He’d just lie. That’s it, mate. One big doozy. “No, I didn’t…” He couldn’t do it. He had to be honest with her. “Yes, I did, but it wasn’t really much.”

“What? You what?” Buffy was stunned.

Spike stared at the toes of his boots. That day hadn’t been one of his more stellar moments. “I…uh…it was just…Harmony…”

“You’ve got to be kidding. I thought you just said Harmony.” She couldn’t believe her ears. In fact, her stomach began to roll.

“Harmony, but we really didn’t do anything.” He held out his hands, palms up. “See, I had just found out that I was no longer a ghost. And she was there, ya know. But then she bit me, and I threw her off.”

Buffy tapped her foot instead of kicking him like she wanted to do. “But you resorted to Harmony?”

Frustrated, Spike got into her face. “Yes already, but remember I didn’t even end up screwing the silly bint, and you had been fucking the Immortal regularly. So back off.” He threw up his arms and paced away. “Hell, you slept with that slut and told your friends about it. I tried to do right by you when we were screwing, and you wouldn’t tell anyone about us.”

She slapped him. Hard. On her second swing, he caught her arm before it connected and threw it back at her. She stumbled as Spike continued his tirade. “And on top of all that, he sought you out to hurt me and Angel. Just as he did before in 1894. Did both Dru and Darla while trying to kill me and Angelus.”

Taken aback, Buffy shook her head. “I didn’t know there was any history. The Immortal never mentioned you or Angel. I didn’t even know he knew you.”

Listening to her say that wanker’s name as if she were defending him made him clench and unclench his jaw. “What did you think? Angel and I would be waiting for you until you tired of the Immortal?

“Angel? Well, yeah I guess I did because he told me he would the last time I saw him in Sunnydale. And you?” Waving her arms, she walked in front of him. “How was I going to wait for you if I didn’t even know that you were alive? Remember. One phone call. Just one and there wouldn’t have been a problem.”

“A call. Yeah. ‘Hi, this is Spike. Can I talk to Buffy if she can get out from under the Immortal long enough to chat.”

Buffy threw her arms up. “For the last time, I was under a spell!”

“My point made. So you would have rejected me for sure. Nope, not looking for another rejection. Rejected by Cecily, then Dru for Angelus, then Dru again for a slime demon. And then you.” His voice dropped low. “I don’t know how many times you rejected me. So tell the truth, slayer. That phone call would have been yet another rejection.”

“But that wouldn’t have been my fault. The spell…” Buffy wondered again who Cecily was, but she thought she’d continue to leave it be for now.

“No, no, don’t get me wrong. Angel and I are glad about how things worked out. Angel now has Nina. And me…” He gave her a smirk, implying that he had something going with someone.

Shock instantly gripped Buffy. Angel had already told her that he was happy with Nina, but he didn’t say anything about Spike. “That Illyria?”

Spike just stared at her, maintaining his smug expression, neither confirming nor denying. He watched with satisfaction as insecurity and jealousy crossed her face.

At first Buffy was crushed and jealous, but those feelings were quickly transformed into determination. To hell with this Illyria, she was going to triple, quadruple her efforts to win him back. Before they made it back to Cleveland, Spike would be hers heart and soul. She wouldn’t miss or waste another opportunity.

Satisfied by her reaction, Spike guided the conversation back to the Immortal. “Do you know that your precious Immortal tried to have Angel and me killed while we were in Rome both in 1894 and 2004?”

“No, I didn’t know.” She made a note to kill the Immortal herself when this mission was over. “But none of that was my fault.” She felt like a parrot repeating the same thing over and over.

Spike drove the point home with the finesse of a sledge hammer. “Yes, the second time was all about him besting us with you.”

This was getting ridiculous. Spike’s point had been made already. Time for closure and to move forward. “What’s really getting to you?”

The truth flew out of his mouth before he could catch himself. “Are you dense, woman. You screwing the Immortal.” He stared at her, eyes shooting bullets.

She matched him right on target. “So last year. Get over it already.” Her voice was forceful and carried a strong note of finality.

Both were so into their showdown that neither noticed that the floor had begun to move. Actually, the section between Buffy and the water was starting to move, starting to tilt up from her with the edge at the water forming a type of hinge. By the time Spike and Buffy realized what was tilting their world, the gap in front of Buffy was growing at a quick rate. Spike was starting to slip towards the black fluid.

Now unable to see him any longer, she could hear Spike’s usual smart mouth. “Bloody hell. Slayer, I have no desire to take a dip right now.” By the light of his swinging lantern, Spike could see the black mystery liquid below. At this point, he wanted to leave the water a mystery.

While the wall was still increasing its slant, Spike jumped and grabbed the edge of the stone. What he found there didn’t help. Instead of the flat edge with sharp edges, they were rounded off, making it difficult to grasp firmly. In between his own shouts, he could hear Buffy yelling.

“Spike. Spike!” Buffy admitted it. She was scared witless. Setting her lantern down, she jumped for the lip of the stone.

The wall stopped at about an eighty degree angle, and they both had precarious grips. To make a bad situation worse, Buffy’s had no traction since her feet no longer hit the ground, but she was certainly going to try. What she knew for sure was that she didn’t want Spike to find out just how hot the black ooze was. But first, she slipped off. The edge of the stone felt like rounded, polished granite. Looking up, she could see one of Spike’s hands slipping. Buffy leapt up again, one hand grasped the stone while her other one landed on top of Spike’s right one. But she couldn’t keep her grip and fell to the ground again. She was relieved, though, to see both of Spike’s hands over the edge now. “Son of a bitch,” she yelled, hoping it would float up to the Powers That Be.

“Is that Buffy Summers burning my virgin ears?” Contrary to the joke, Spike’s voice sounded strained.

Buffy fussed backed. “Spike, God…Spike, this is serious.” Her movements became almost frenzied. “You’re half human now. You could die in that sludge.”

Spike snorted. “Right, so get up here and save me, goody-goody slayer.”

“And you suggest…?” As she said it, Buffy watched in horror as one of Spike’s hand disappeared from her view again.

“Spike!”

“Still here, pet, but shake a tail feather already.” The comment sounded more frantic than a tease.

Buffy prepared to jump again. “Don’t let go, just don’t let go,” she begged.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, toots, until, of course, I slip and lose my grip.” Again she could hear the effort to be funny in his voice, but she didn’t believe it for a minute.

Jumping straight up, Buffy moved her hands up and over and was rewarded with two wrists. “Gotcha, thank God.”

“Thanks to him is duly noted. Now get me the hell out of this. I don’t care to have my arse boiled.” He wasn’t kidding. He could feel the heat of the liquid below coming up in waves.

Buffy knew that they were only half way there. “No butt boiling going to happen today. Can you turn your hands so that you can grip my wrists?”

No matter how mad he could and had gotten with her over the Immortal, he still trusted her with his life with no reservations. Spike let go of his grip on the stone with his left hand, and in the blink of an eye, he had hold of her right wrist. Then he did the same with his right hand. Buffy let out the enormous, deep breath that she had been holding for what seemed like the last hour.

However, Spike wasn’t taking a break. “If you’ve jump started your heart again, sweets, let’s see if we can find me a new bloody location, preferably nice and dry, feet on the ground. Ya know the type, pet.”

“Oh, right.” Buffy brought her legs up, braced her feet on the slab of stone and used them to try to pull Spike over. She made one last tug, and success, Spike came flying over. They landed hard, especially Spike since Buffy landed on him. After a moment of them both catching their breath, Spike knew he should roll her off of him, but this position felt so safe, so good, and felt so…right. Spike shook off that thought, but his eyes locked with her hazel eyes. After what seemed like hours, his eyes slid down to her lips.


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TBC

Sorry, guys, that this chapter took so long. Summer school started and kept me very busy! Enjoy the chapter and look for a new chapter from Just a Fling.

Dana