The Grey Area

Part 3: Chased

"C'mon, Spike. You must know that there are a lot of folks out there interested in you. Powerfully interested..." -- Lindsey, "Soul Purpose"


"How's our boy doing?"

Eve glanced at Lindsey from her lounging point on the bed as he stepped into the room. "You're just in time for the show." she said with a grin, her hand making circular motions on the empty space beside her. "Ambrus has decided to let his guys have a bit of a workout."

Lindsey glanced about at the symbols on the walls. "So this place really can get cable." He turned to the screen hanging from one wall, background sounds of footsteps on crunching leaves and panting breaths drifting from it. "Looks like Ambrus went the full mile."

"And then some." Eve's eyes creased with her sly smile. "He slipped us this from the direct feed to his own place with a simple magic trick. Said he wanted us to see for ourselves. Senior Partners won't even notice."

Lindsey gave his own smile as he began to undress, lifting his shirt over his head and revealing the many black symbol tattoos on his torso and arms. "So what kind of workout are we talkin' about, here?" Lindsey asked, his tone rife with suggestion, as he toed off his boots and began unbuckling the belt to his jeans.

"Oh, he's not gone that far, yet." Eve said. "But it looks pretty close. He made a set up so Spike would believe he could actually escape." She stretched her arms over her head leisurely. "Poor guy's been running through the woods naked for hours, now."

Lindsey felt a bit of apprehension coil inside him, and his expression turned serious. "Ambrus is sure that there's no way Spike could make it out?"

"Relax, sweetie," Eve lifted the blankets from her body, giving Lindsey a clear view of the fact that she was about as dressed as she claimed Spike to be. "There's a curse surrounding the forest around his place. You can't find your way out unless you know the incantation to break through the spell."

The ex-lawyer pushed his pants down his hips and walked over to the bed, climbing onto it. He positioned himself over Eve, his hands on either side of her head as he bent down and kissed her hard. Her hands ran over his chest, and grabbed at his biceps. He flexed them, knowing how much she liked that. After a moment longer, he broke off the kiss, and stared down into Eve's eyes. She stared back, her hands stroking over his sides, lust and love reflecting back at him.

Lindsey smiled and rolled over onto his back beside her, moving his arms so his hands supported the back of his head where he rested it against the pillows. Eve made herself comfortable beside him, and they both turned their eyes to the screen on the wall. It was magically projecting the image of a pale, nude, collared vampire with desperate eyes running through the forest, attempting to navigate his way out.

"The group of hunters in Ambrus's employ haven't had a good job for more than a week." Eve explained as she rested her head on Lindsey's chest. "So, he's giving them a second run with Spike."

Lindsey ran his hand over Eve's hair as he eyed the completely naked, weaponless vampire as he paused and gazed about the forest, looking to be listening for something -- likely his pursuers. "Guy doesn't have much of an advantage, does he?"

He could feel her smile against the skin near his nipple. "No, but, they need to get him back before sunrise, anyway."

The Spike on the screen suddenly looked behind himself, and the muscle in his jaw set hard, his eyes flashing fear and anger as he turned and bolted off again. A horse whinnied in the distance, followed by varied shouts.

"They've almost caught up with him, now." Eve said, her voice becoming breathy in what Lindsey interpreted as anticipation. "Ambrus said we'll even have an extra copy of it -- if we'd like to show it to anyone else."

"Very thoughtful of him." Lindsey remarked, his mind already running through the things he could do with the magic video.

Spike suddenly stumbled to a stop, quickly turning to head in a different direction as a masked rider appeared in his path. But the vampire was forced to backtrack yet again as another horse came and blocked his escape route. The man on the second horse held up a length of rope, snapping it meaningfully at the blond.

Lindsey felt Eve shift against him, and watched as one of her hands moved down her smooth belly, trailing lower as she turned and nuzzled his neck, keeping her eyes on the screen.

Her voice was breathy as she spoke against his skin. "Now comes the good part."


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Breathing heavily, eyes wide, Spike watched helplessly as he was surrounded by the men who had been hunting him all night long -- the same blokes who had captured him in the first place. They all had black cloths around their heads, hiding their faces from view, as they sat in a circle around him on their horses.

Not good, not good... he thought as he realized he was well and truly buggered. Again. This damn forest was never-ending, and he'd gotten more than a few cuts on the bottoms of his feet from sharp rocks and twigs he'd stepped on in his flight. Not to mention that he was tired from all his running, vampire constitution be damned.

Something pierced his back, and then a jolt of electricity thrummed through him for a few seconds. Spike tensed and fell on his hands and knees under the assault, enough to incapacitate him briefly, but not entirely. His back muscles twitched as the taser wires were pulled from him, and through blurred vision he saw the dark figures of the men in front of him dismount from their horses.

He felt his panic surge and went into game face.

Bodies crashed into him from behind before he could make a move, and then he was hissing and snarling in an animalistic rage as their hands tried to keep him on the forest floor. He bucked, and shot out his leg, and dimly heard one of the men give a grunt and a cry as he was sent flying by the kick.

"Get off me!" Spike shouted, his voice guttural with his anger and fear.

By sheer numbers they were able to keep him down, although they did not hit him or shock him any more. He heard the clink of chains and then two leashes were being connected to either side of the blasted collar he still wore around his neck. He felt them pulled, and snarled as he felt his arms grabbed and positioned.

"Let me go!" Spike roared, squirming and thrashing in their grips, so desperate that he snapped and sunk his teeth into the nearest arm. He felt blood spurt and fill his mouth, as the man he was hurting gave a loud cry of shock and pain. Growling, he jerked his head, tearing deeper into flesh.

Spike felt a bar of some kind pushed between his arms and back, and his elbows were bent around it. He released his hold on the arm and spat out a mouthful of blood, turning to try to take a chunk out of one of the men behind him before they had him entirely helpless. The collar on his neck suddenly jerked him so he was facing forward, and he saw that the ends to the chains had been bound around the saddles of two horses, keeping them taut and holding him firm.

He felt rope slide around his elbows and the bar, binding his arms to it. There were too many hands to escape. Spike bucked one last time, but could feel the fight draining out of him in the obvious hopelessness of the situation. He felt himself shift back out of game face.

"Sorry, guy," one of the faceless men grunted as he helped pull the bonds on one arm tight. "You're formidable, all right, but we're just a bit more afraid of Angel."

The rope was knotted firmly, but the hands did not release him just yet. One of the men who had tied his chains to the horse saddles stepped forward to come in front of Spike, and pressed a metal bit against his mouth. Spike felt a little of his energy return, and he bent his head away as far as he could with the pull on his neck. The tendons in his neck stood out in sharp relief as he silently tried to avoid the gag. Someone behind him reached around to clench their hands on his chin, as another hand grabbed his nose and pulled upwards while the first pulled down on his jaw. His lips parted first, and then his teeth, enough so that the man before him could harshly shove the bar in between them.

Spike made a garbled sound of anger as the bit was manipulated farther into his mouth, the metal clanking against his teeth. The straps on the gag were grabbed and pulled back behind his head, where they were buckled quickly and cinched tight. Spike shut his eyes as his last available weapon was mercilessly rendered useless.

The men released him, and went back to their horses. Spike shook his head once, his jaw working as he tried to dislodge the bit. He flexed his shoulders, his arms pulling against the cords on his elbows, but all he managed to do was make the bar they were bound to press against his back until it hurt.

Slowly, he got to his feet, staring at the men still around him, before averting his eyes to the ground in disgust for himself, his arms still instinctively tensing against their bonds. The chains on his collar jerked forward, forcing him to take several stumbling steps forward, before he realized the men had mounted their horses and were heading off. Most likely back to Ambrus's castle.

Spike hung his head, despair clouding his insides as he was forced to follow or be dragged.


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As the screen went dark, Eve curled around Lindsey, then maneuvered herself onto his lap, bracing herself with her hands on his hard abdomen as she felt the heat in her loins steal her breath.

Lindsey reached up and pulled her harder against him, thrusting into her. She tensed and shuddered in pleasure, her fingers digging into her lover's warm skin.

"Mmmm..." she moaned. "I like this a lot better than your original plan."