Twining Vines (COMPLETE)

Part XXII – Work’s up

As his mind slowly drifted towards consciousness he became more and more aware of a small body wrapped around his. He opened his eyes to find her laying next to him, snuggled close to his chest, his left arm surrounding her as her hand and thigh were splayed over his lower abdomen.

He blinked a couple of times until the image came into focus. Her fingers chedched a bit as she too started to awake. She nestled her face against his throat, fighting off awareness, but it was inevitable. Slowly, but surely, she started to stir, her nose trailed down his neck, across his collarbone to reach his shoulder. She opened her eyes and met his. Almost immediately a smile sp ove over her lips.

“Morning.” She murmured, her voice hoarse from sleep.

“Actually, it’s closer to evening.” He replied with a smirk, while his left hand delved into her locks.

She closed her eyes for a second and leaned into his touch.

“Nice to find you’re still here.” He couldn’t help noting. “Usually, right about now you’re halfway across town-“

“Virtue fluttering. I know… I’m sorry.” She whispered, rolling over so she was now lying on top of him. “I’ve been a real bitch, haven’t I?”

“Well…” He looked sideways as if trying to remember a particular moment in time and then suddenly looked at her and said matter-of-factly: “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.” She mewled again, coming down to capture his lips with hers.

It was supposed to have been a short, innocent kiss but, as Spike rested his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her closer and opening his mouth, it grew deeper. Their tongues came into play and soon he had her gasping for air. After a few seconds, when her breathing became a bit too erratic, he let her up.

“You’re forgiven.” He breathed, watching her flushed face while she drew deep, hard breaths into her lungs.

She smiled down at him and let her mouth drop to his chest. She planted a series of small kisses on the soft skin before she rolled off of him to lie once more at his side.

“What time is it?” She asked.

“About seven or eight.” He replied.

“Oh, my God!” She gasped sitting up, her eyes darting around to find her clothes.

“Let me guess. You’re late.” He groaned disappointed.

She stopped and turned to see the hurt on his face. She smiled and crawled up next to him.

“Actually, *we* are late.”

The vampire frowned.

“We have to help Giles back at the Magic Box.”

He cocked up a scarred eyebrow.

“We?”

“Yes, we. If we’re going to be an official couple you’re going to have to help out my friends.” She explained matter-of-factly.

At that, the smug look on Spike’s face faded to be replaced by a serious and anxious one.

“A couple? An official couple?”

“Yeah? What’d you expect?” She continued to talk as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You’re going to tell your chums about us?” His finger alternated between pointing at her and at himself.

“Yeah.” She repeated.

His eyes narrowed at that.

“What’s the catch?” He questioned, not totally convinced.

“No catch.” She insisted.

Her chin rested on his chest, while her fingers traced circles over the pale skin that covered his sternum.

“So when is the big revelation going to occur?”

“Well… I wasn’t planning on doing it right away-“

“There’s the catch.” He muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Will you listen to me? I can’t just drop the bomb on Giles like that. He just had his shop completely destroyed. I don’t want to have him worrying about… us.”

“Why would he worry about us? Ever thought he would actually think it’s natural?” He questioned.

“Natural? You?” Her finger pointed at him, before turning to herself. “And me? Together?” It turned to indicate the bed they lay on. “Doing the nasty?” She scrunched up her nose. “He’s pretty much gonna have a major coronary. Believe me. I know Giles.”

“Fine.” He grumbled.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be that way.” She begged, pouting a bit. “I promise I’ll tell him as soon as the Magic Box is fixed up.”

Once more he narrowed his eyes at her untrustingly.

“I promise!” She insisted.

There was a moment of pause and she could tell he was still unconvinced.

“Look, I don’t go around telling everyone I love them. Sleeping around and having wild, animal sex with vampires, yes. Saying I love you, no.”

“Good to know.” He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I mean it, Spike. I wanna be with you.” She paused, lying down beside him.

She rolled onto her side, turning her back to him as her arm pulled his so he was spooning up against her back.

“And I want all my friends to know. When they’re ready.”

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply when she felt him nuzzle his face into her hair for a second before his lips found her earlobe.

“We really should go.” She said a bit breathless.

“Huh?” His mind had hazed up the moment she had turned on her side; her marvellous backside rubbing against his crotch.

He breathed in her scent while his teeth nibbled on her skin.

“We have to help out…” She trailed off when his tongue delved into the labyrinth of her ear. “That’s good…” She moaned.

“Mmm…” He hummed, trusting his hips against her ass, his hard cock slipping between her thighs.

“That’s even better…” She gasped, grinding her backside against him. “Spooning is good…” She managed to say as his erection pushed between the soaked lips of her sex.

She held her breath while he positioned the head of his cock at her opening. She waited for him to make a move but he didn’t. His right hand came around to gruffly cup her breast, rolling her pebbled nipple between his index finger and his thumb. When he refused to move his hips, Buffy was forced to pushk ank and with one swift, fluid motion he was sheathed inside of her.

The two gasped in unison as they started to rock together.

~+~

A smile spread over her lips as she watched the two cuddling shapes.

“Finally…” She murmured.

“Checking on the nether ones again, are we?”

She jumped up slightly, surprised by the male voice coming from behind her. She turned to look at the tall blond that came to stand next to her.

“Jesus, Adrian! Lurk much?” She si, he, her attention drifting back to the couple under the sheets.

“The Slayer and the vamp are back together?” He asked raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

Her smile grew as she nodded.

“Never thought of you as a voyeur.” Adrian noted watching the couple.

“What?” She frowned, looking closely at the two. Her face immediately scrunched up in disgust as their movements became more obvious. “They’re going at it AGAIN? God, they’re like bunnies.” She grumbled and with one swift move of her hand the image before them disappeared into a flood of white light. “And why did they have to do it in MY bed?” She added, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

“It’s not your bed anymore, Samara.” Adrian pointed out with a grin.

She menacingly narrowed her eyes at him.

“It *is* my bed. *I* bought it.” She mumbled.

“Well, it’s not really your bed if you can’t go anywhere near it anymore. Remember your little agreement with the Boss.”

She shook her head before exhaling sharply. The two began to walk down the white-lit path.

“Not fair.”

“Well, you’re the one who decided to piss her off.” Adrian continued to speak as the two strolled together. “You know good and well we can’t interfere with the lives of the nether ones.”

“Yeah, but if I hadn’t interfered we’d be pretty screwed right about now!” Sam exclaimed pointing her index finger at him triumphantly.

“Yes, and that’s the only reason you’re not stuck in some forsaken, puny, little in-between plane right now.” Adrian agreed.

“I still don’t know why I can’t go back there. Just one more time.” She argued. “I mean, they’re all going to think I’m dead or something. They’re gonna mourn me and-“

“They didn’t look too grief-stricken to me.” Adrian threw her a smug grin.

“You can just wipe that smirk off your face.” She warned him. “I’m telling you, I’m going to find a way to get back there.” She said confidently.

“You’re going to get yourself into some big trouble with the Boss.”

“Well, *she* can just bite my pretty little-“

Samara was cut short as a powerful shockwave passed through them. Bringing her eyebrows together for an apologetic frown, she said:

“Sorry.” Then she leaned into Adrian and whispered: “I *am* going to find a way.”

“I bet you will.” He chuckled as a bright light engulfed them.

~+~

“It’s about time the two of you showed up.” Anya grumbled when the vampire and the slayer walked into the ruins of the Magic Box.

Night had fallen and what was left of the room was bathed in shades of blue and black. The group was gathered in the destroyed room. Tara and Willow were picking up a large rock off the floor while Giles wiped his brow with a handkerchief.

“We kinda got sidetracked.” Buffy explained as she watched the Xander and Dawn haul the last debris out of the room. The only things left were two large steel bars. “What can we do?” She asked bringing her hands together.

“You can start by carrying those out of here.” Anya practically ordered pointing at the fallen steal.

“Right on it.” Spike piped up with a huge smile.

“And why are you so chipper?” Xander frowned as he returned to the room.

“Just happy to help.” Spike replied, bending down to pick up the large steal beam with Buffy.

“Since when?” Xander questioned.

He Spike ignored him and lifted the metal with Buffy’s aid. The two made it look almost effortless.

“I wish I had super strength.” Dawn complained, dropping down to the floor in exhaustion, watching as her sister and the vampire carried their cargo out and loaded it onto a pickup truck outside.

They were back and working on the second beam. Soon the room was cleaned out.

“What now?” Spike asked a bit too anxious to aid.

“Ok, helpful-upbeat Spike is freaking me out.”

The blond rolled his eyes at Xander.

“Xander!” Anya stepped in, yanking at her fiancé’s sleeve and hissed: “No pissing off the free manual labour. Especially the only *super strength*, free, manual labour that works all the way through the night.”

Xander sighed.

“Fine.” Turning to face the rest of the group he added: “We have to go over to the construction site and see if we can smuggle some of the heavy machinery out. We’re gonna need it to fix that.” He pointed at the large crack on the floor.

~+~

The days went by and slowly the building started to look like it had before the big confrontation. The gang worked day in and day out and, eventually, the fracture on the floor was fixed, the walls and the ceiling had been rebuilt.

“Anya, pass me the hammer, please!” Xander shouted from his spot between the wooden beams that held part of the roof.

The ex-demon took the tool and put it in the bucket. Pulling at the rope, it was lifted in the air by the rudimentary pulley system they had devised.

“I still don’t think letting Xander repair the ceiling on his own was a good idea.” Giles expressed his concern for the 1000th time in the space of three weeks.

“It looks pretty solid to me.” Dawn pointed out as she looked up at her friend, hammering a few nails into place.

“For now…” Giles sighed, taking off his glasses and cleaning them.

“Relax, Giles. Everything’s going to work out.” Willow tried to reassure the shopkeeper, even though she had her own worries about the stability of the entire structure.

They had all frowned and doubted that the young man could pull off the plans by himself, but he had surprised them all with his knowledge of engineering.

The redhead returned to her place next to Tara, helping her work on the linoleum floor.

Giles shook his head and also returned to the task with the two Wiccas.

“Where have Spike and Buffy gone off to? Again?” Anya protested as she carried in the tin cans.

“They went outback to the the rest of the linoleum sheets for the floor.” Dawn explained. “Anya, is that really the colour you want on the walls?” She questioned when she saw the content of the cans they had bought.

They had spent over three hours in the hardware store debating over the colours to use on the walls. Anya’s first choice? Bright green. Giles had practically choked to death at the sight of it. After a long argument they had settled on lavender. It was still hideous, but not as stomach-turning and nauseating as the panoply of colours that had preceded their final choice.

“Yes!” Anya replied, ignoring the disgusted look on Dawn’s face as she dipped the brush into the tin can. “Now, where’s my free super-strength manual labour?” She whined.

~+~

“Spike, we have to go- Oh, God!” She gasped as he pushed her against the wall and lifted her off the ground.

Almost instantly, he pushed the puny material of her thong aside and was buried inside of her.

“You’re insatiable.” She managed to moan as he pumped in and out of her.

One arm was wrapped around her, holding her in place, while the other wormed its way between their bodies to rub her clit.

“It’s what you do to me, pet.” He muttered in her ear, nibbling on it.

They had just ended round number two of the day, she had finished putting on her thong and was flattening her skirt down. She was saying something about having to go somewhere, but the sight of her bending over to pick up the large sheets of linoleum, her perfectly shaped ass swaying in the air made the borrowed blood in his body rush South. Without thinking, he spun her around and had her pinned against the wall.

Now, he moved languidly in and out of her. He couldn’t get enough of her. Her sight, her voice, her scent, her breath coming in hard pants on his neck… all of it was intoxicating. Addictive.

“We’re constantly disappearing… Spike…” She tried to speak, bhe fhe feel of him thrusting into her made it almost impossible to speak coherently. “We have to stop sneaking out to… Ah! There! Right there!” She swallowed hard, trying to concentrate. “T-the guys are going to get suspicious… Oh, God! Don’t stop!”

“Christ, pet.” He gasped against her neck as her walls clamped down around him as she neared her release.

“They’re already…” A moan interrupted her phrase. “…wondering about… Faster! That’s it… right there… about my… Faster… newly-found love of skirts. Oh, GOD!” She exhaled sharply one last time, grinding her teeth together as she came.

Her nails dug into the black leather covering his back, her legs tightened around his waist while her muscles fluttered around his cock bringing him to the brink and precipitating his orgasm.

They clung together in a breathless heap of limp muscles and sweaty skin as they came down.

“We have to go…” She whispered letting one leg drop to the floor and then the other.

Her arms were still wrapped around his neck as he nuzzled against her throat.

~+~

The two walked into the room carrying the linoleum sheets. Buffy trailed behind the vampire, trying to hide her flushed face.

“Finally! We were thinking some big nasty had gotten to you.” Dawn sighed as she rolled the paint onto the walls.

“That colour is hideous.” The vampire supplied, setting the sheets next to Tara and Willow.

“That’s what I’ve been telling her.” Giles sighed, shaking his head. What were they doing to his shop?

“I think I could get used to it.” Xander said, trying to be supportive to his soon-to-be-wife while he picked up one of the linoleum boards and set it into its place.

“I can’t believe it’s almost done.” Anya said giddily. “You know what that means?”

Xander smiled affectionately:

“Are you still sure you want to have the weddinge?” e?”

She nodded emphatically.

“And you don’t want to invite anyone besides the gang?”

“Yes!” She stopped painting the wall and turned to look at her fiancé. “No one, but us.” She pointed at the gang with the dripping brush.

“What made you change your mind?” Dawn wondered. “I mean, you wanted this huge wedding, with all the gift-baring guests…”

“I just got this sinking feeling during that night...” She trailed off, but everyone knew she was referring to the night of the confrontation. “… not to invite anyone else.”

“My parents were kinda-“

“Especially not family!” She cut Xander off.

The brunette simply shrugged.

“Well, they weren’t too pissed.” He stopped for a second, contemplating the issue. “Actually, they were a bit relieved to be getting out of the expensive gift-giving event.” Xander explained.

“I just want a simple, short ceremony in my-“

Giles cleared his throat at that.

“-in our newly restored Magic Box.” She smiled as she finished her sentence and leaned in to kiss her future husband.

Dawn simply rolled her eyes and continued to paint with a smiling Anya at her side.

“Goddess, I’m tired.” Tara breathed sitting back and brushing the sweat away from her forehead with the back of her hand.

“And hungry.” Willow added.

“Whose turn is it to go on food duty?” Dawn questioned.

“We’ll go!” Buffy and Spike offered immediately, not giving anyone a chance to protest as theye oue out the door.

“Great super-strength help they turned out to be.” Anya grumbled.

“They didn’t even ask what we wanted.” Xander pouted.

“It’s always pizza anyway.” Willow shrugged.

“Could they be any more obvious?” Dawn sighed.

“Some people find it stimulating… The hiding.” Anya supplied.

“Obvious about what?” Xander asked with a frown.

“Nothing, honey.” The ex-demon said patting her fiancé’s back. “In your case, it’s more a matter of being oblivious.”

“Huh?”

The two witches, in the distance, giggled at Xander’s confusion while Giles simply shook his head and cleaned his glasses.