Breathless

Flashes of bright light blinded Buffy as she made her way to the car that Lorne had arranged for her release from the hospital. Reporters lined the sidewalk, screaming their questions at her. She was grateful that Spike was with her, trying his best to shield her from their prying eyes with his leather duster. After what seemed like forever, they were both finally hidden in the backseat protected by the dark tinted windows. Once the door was shut, Buffy could still hear the faint sounds of Lorne’s voice as he shouted “No Comment!” to the frenzied crowd.

Forty-eight hours ago, Buffy had been in surgery having her nose skillfully repaired, as well as work done to her lacerations. Her plastic surgeon had beamed and exclaimed that everything was a success and there should be little to no scarring. Buffy was unsure of his promises, when she looked into the mirror her bandaged face stared gloomily back still puffy and bruised from the abuse it had taken over the past several days.

Sighing, Buffy carefully leaned back into the plush leather seat and laid her weary head on Spike’s shoulder. “Ugh…that was a total nightmare! Why can’t they stop hounding me?”

Spike gently pulled her closer, mindful of her broken bones, and kissed the top of her head. “Sooner or later, pet, they will move on to another bit of hot gossip. For now, just remember to keep your chin up.”

She glanced up into his sparkling blue eyes and said teasingly, “At least I got a sexy bodyguard out of the deal!”

Spike chuckled lightly, pleased that she was making jokes. The media coverage of her attack had spread like a wild fire with reports in the newspaper, magazines, radio and several television talk shows. Unfortunately, only about half of the reports were correct and had claimed that the assault was Buffy’s fault because Riley was provoked when he found her in bed with another man. In light of the events over the past few days, he had expected her to be downright gloomy.

About a half hour later, they came to a stop. Spike glanced down and realized that Buffy was snoring lightly with her hand curled on his chest. He peppered her crown with feather light kisses and gently lulled her out of a peaceful slumber. She yawned and attempted to stretch her arms, wincing from the stab of pain from her ribs. Spike thought she looked adorable when she turned to look at him with heavy lidded, sleepy eyes. Finally, the gate slid open and they continued on to the house.

Buffy’s mouth gaped open when they pulled up to the beach house. Cordelia had repeatedly bragged about her parent’s vacation home in high school, but never invited Buffy to visit. She was in awe as her eyes took in the sprawling gardens; palm tree lined drive and perfectly manicured green grass. The house itself was composed of light gray stone and statuesque gleaming windows; stone columns framed the heavy wooden and glass door on the front porch, giving sight to the flowing staircase just inside the marble coated foyer. Her eyes were wide in wonder as she crawled from the car and headed around back to explore while Spike assisted the driver in unloading their bags.

Following the winding stone walkway around back, she found herself in the midst of tropical paradise. A lazy waterfall plunged into an Olympic sized swimming pool which was surrounded by lush foliage and trees, and the best part was that everything was secluded, bordered by a cliffs and a private beach.

Buffy was staring at the ocean, her feet submerged in the warm water of the pool as she stood on the stone step, when she felt Spike’s strong arms snake around her shoulders. She leaned into him slightly and turned her head towards his, placing a soft kiss onto his chiseled cheekbone. They stayed there for awhile, holding onto one another and staring into the horizon in silence.

Eventually, he coaxed her into the house since her friends were scheduled to arrive after lunch to drop off her belongings from Riley’s. Faith, Tara and Willow had dutifully went to Buffy’s old residence to pack when news had spread that Riley had been arrested late last night; figuring it would be better to go when they knew for certain that he would not be making any appearances and causing trouble.

Once inside, Buffy headed off to find a bathroom while Spike went into the kitchen to see about lunch. By the time Buffy came back downstairs, he was setting the table with a plate of sandwiches, chips, drinks and some fruit. He loved the surprised look that spread across her lovely features as she took her seat. Time passed quickly while they ate and talked about everything and nothing at all; only to be disturbed by the buzzer, signaling that someone was at the gate.

Buffy greeted her girlfriends, their boisterous chatter echoing in the foyer, and introduced them to Spike, who immediately excused himself to start unloading the van, which was on loan from Oz. Faith pounced on Buffy, her eyebrows wagging devilishly. ”Mmm…that is one fine piece of ass you’ve invested in, B! Gotta get me some of that!” Noticing her friends unpleased expression, Faith shrugged and said,” That is unless you have already got dibs on him.”

“Well,” Buffy began, raising her eyebrow at her, “just keep your claws away from him, ok?!”

“Umm, Buff?” Willow said nervously, “Do you think being with Spike is such a good thing right now?” The slender red head began fidgeting, her hands twisting around one another as she stared at the floor.

Buffy was speechless; she had just assumed that her friends would not judge her like the media had been. Her mouth open and shut repeatedly, reminiscent of a guppy, at a loss for words.

“Willow, s…sweetie.” Tara interjected, her soft gentle voice stuttering as usual. She placed her hand on her lover’s shoulder and continued, “W…what kind of relationship would we have if we had l…let other people’s opinions make our decisions?”

Buffy smiled at Tara, grateful to have someone on her side. “Wills, do you remember that story I told you about last summer? The hot guy in the bathroom?” She asked Willow, who nodded. “Spike would be the hottie.”

Willow’s jaw dropped open; her eyes were wide with astonishment as Buffy’s announcement set in. “How weird is that?!” she exclaimed, “But, seriously Buff I would be careful about how you guys handle this, it could get way out of control for the both of you. Just promise me that you will consider the situation?

Buffy nodded in agreement, her stomach churning. She had never thought about Spike’s roll in this. If Willow was right and the media did turn their relationship into a circus, how would it affect Spike and his job? And most of all, how much would their fledgling relationship suffer?

Dusk was rapidly approaching as stood on the front steps, waving goodbye to her friends as they headed down the driveway. Spike stood beside her, only slipping his arms around her for a hug when the van was out of sight. He dipped his head and began nibbling along her neck, sending shivers through out her. As she melted into his warm embrace, Willow’s doubts plague her mind. Reality snapped inside when his hands slid underneath her shirt and she stepped out of his hold. “I think we need to talk.” She said cautiously, a dark shadow falling over Spike’s face.

“Maybe we should move slower. Um…you know, just keep this more on the friendly side until things cool down with the tabloids.” Buffy explained, a lump forming in her throat as she watched his reaction to her words. ‘This will be better for him.’ She kept telling herself. “I’m not saying it will be forever and all.”

Spike was fighting to keep his emotions under control. It had taken them a year to find one another and now the crazy bint just wanted to be friends. An angry flood of words were about to flow from his mouth, until he looked into her eyes and saw the struggle that was there. Deep in the shimmering green depths of Buffy’s eyes, he saw that she loved him and could not deal with that pressure right now; not with everything that had happened to her as of late. Sighing in defeat, Spike slipped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “Fine, pet. You win for now.” He could feel her tears dampen his shirt as she leaned against his chest. “I bet you are worn out. How would you feel about a bubble bath?” She pulled away and glared at him. “I mean one for you, kitten.” He laughed lightly, he felt her relaxed in his arms and he held her for one more minute before scooting her up the stairs.

While Spike drew her a hot bath in the enormous master bathroom, Buffy wandered into the bedroom in search of pajamas; which took a while since all of her clothes were still in boxes. Finally locating some cotton pajama bottoms, a cami and some underwear, she headed back to the bathroom just in time to hear the water stop running. Standing near the tub, she realized that because of her ribs and collarbone she would have trouble undressing, when she was in the hospital a nurse or her mother helped her change. A deep red flush covered her face when she realized that she would need Spike’s help to remove her clothes.

As if he sensed what was running through her mind, Spike reached over to help with her top. “Don’t worry, pet. ‘S nothing but a friend helping a friend.” He assured her when he felt her muscles tighten. “Promise I won’t look.” The moment the words were out of his mouth, he knew that resistance would be futile. Slipping her shirt over her head carefully, she clung to him as she tried to remove her jeans. Spike instantly hardened at the sight of Buffy was standing in front of him clad in a delicate pink bra and matching bikini underwear.

Buffy quivered at his gentle touch as he peeled away her clothing, her body reacted instantly, flooding the crotch of her underwear. Her chest heaved with arousal; her pussy ached with a desire to be filled with his cock. Bravely, she glanced up and their gazes locked and Buffy realized that he was thinking the same thing. Inches away from his lips, she struggled but managed to regain her control and slipped as quickly as possible into the tub.

Spike excused himself, saying he was going to lock up and check around the house. Leaving the bathroom door cracked in case she needed him, Spike stepped into the bedroom and quickly adjusted his rock hard shaft which was bordering on painful.

Surrounded by frothy bubbles, the throbbing between her thighs refusing to stop, she slid her hand down her flat stomach until it reached the tiny patch of curls and began caressing the sensitive nub nestled there. Pausing briefly, Buffy listened for any signs that Spike was near before sliding a finger inside while continuing to rub her clit. Moans struggled to escape as she plunged her finger deeper and deeper; water splashed around the edges of the tubs as she fucked herself frantically, aching for release.

Outside the bathroom door, Spike stood motionless, not believing what he was seeing. Reason told him that watching Buffy masturbate was wrong, but he was unable to tear his gaze from her writhing body. Spike stifled a groan in his throat as her breasts bobbed at the surface; taut nipples peeked at him through the bubbles, teasing him. His cock hardened again, begging for attention. Unable to control his own actions, he lowered his zipper and released his pulsating member from its confines. Spike began stroking his cock in rhythm with Buffy, imagining it was her tight cunt wrapped around him, fucking him hard. Bracing himself against the door frame, he pumped faster when he noticed she was nearing a pleasurable end. Buffy’s head was thrown back against the tub, her pretty pink mouth open in a silent scream as her orgasm ripped through her body. As he watched her twitch with aftershocks, Spike pumped faster until thick strands of white cum spurted into his hand. He leaned his swimming head momentarily against the door frame; using his clean hand he tucked his softening cock back into his pants, then quickly retreated to another bathroom to clean himself up before helping Buffy out of the bathtub.


**Sorry I wasn't able to get this chapter out earlier, but I had disk problems and all of the work I did over the weekend was lost. :(~ So, I am having to rewrite all three chapters that I finished from memory! Anyway, thank you for the fantastic reviews guys! They mean the world to me!**