The Winning Hand

Chapter 5 - Taking a Gamble

"Well, what shall it be luv?" Spike asked gesturing toward the row of
tables.

"Uhmmm." Buffy hemmed. "How about blackjack? That's just adding
to twenty-one right?"

Spike chuckled, leading her over to the table. "It's a bit more than that
Buffy." He pulled out a chair for her. "Here, have a seat pet." Buffy
took the offered chair and scooted in eagerly.

"How much would you like to start with?" Spike asked, leaning down
so that his breath tickled the small hairs on the back of her neck. She
shivered, causing Spike to smirk.

"Twenty?" Buffy offered tentatively.

"Twenty thousands a lot for a beginner - " Spike begant But Buffy
interrupted quickly.

"Twenty dollars!" She blushed at his misunderstanding.

Twenty dollars? They were at a five dollar minimum table and she
only wanted to buy in with twenty dollars? Spike shook his head and
then shrugged. Well, it didn't look like he was going to be winning
back any of his money from her tonight.

"Changing twenty!" The dealer called out as Buffy placed her bill
down on the table. He gave her four $5 chips, which she neatly
stacked in front of her.

"Okay, put a chip here." Spike indicated the circle to place her bet.
"Now you've got 15, and the dealer is showing an eight. So you want
to hit."

"Hit?" Buffy asked. "Does that mean ask for another card? But what if
I get over twenty-one? He only has eight so far." She gestured toward
the dealer's hand.

Spike smiled. "Yes, but you assume that the card that isn't showis
s
a ten or face card. Which means he has eighteen, and has you beat
already."

Buffy nodded; indicating to the dealer she wanted a hit. Unfortunately
the next card was a Jack which caused her to bust. She frowned
slightly, "I lost."

"Yes, but you lost correctly." The dealer stated, giving her a smile.

Buffy played another hand, busting on seven this time. She smiled
sheepishly at Will before asking, "If you don't mind, I think I'll play
incorrectly for awhile?"

Spike laughed and nodded at her. As he stood behind her watching in
bemused good humor, his hand came up to rest against the small of
her back, forgetting that the dress she wore tonight was essentially
back-less. When the palm of his hand made contact with the smooth
expanse of her skin, he let out a hiss of breath through clenched teeth
and immediately withdrew.

Unaware of Will's discomfort, Buffy couldn't remember when she'd
ever had such a good time. She laughed at the joke Jim, the dealer
had made even as she lost another bet. Will was standing behind her,
occasionally giving her advice on how to play her hand.

Spike watched in amazement as Buffy's little pile of two chips grew to
a pile of ten, then back to four and then up again to thirty. She had
somehow brought her twenty dollar buy in up to $300! And her
strategy defied all logic. She hit when she should have stood and
stood when she should have hit. And yet here she was taking even
more money from the Crypt. He shook his head, stifling the chuckle
that wanted to erupt from his throat.

Spike let his eyes wander the casino as Buffy continued to play her
hand. Turning to the left Spike caught the eye of one of his pit
bosses, who inclined his head in the direction of the high stakes
blackjack table further down. "Excuse me luv." He whispered to Buffy
before turning to head down the row of tables.

Buffy followed him with her eyes, wondering what was going on.
When he got to the $500 minimum table, Spike knew that trouble was
already brewing. A man sat blustering in his seat as he lost a $1000et oet on another bust. "What the hell is this?" The man was shouting.

Spike placed a hand on the gambler's shoulder, his grip firm. "Is there
a problem here?" He asked softly.

"No problem. And this is none of your business!" The man cried,
shrugging off Spike's hand.

"This is my business. I'm Spike. And this is my place." He stated
calmly.

"Well, then you're the man I want to talk to. Do you think I don't know
what's going on? That your dealerre are aren't playing fair?" Spike
fought the instinct to step away from the reek of alcohol coming off
the man before him.

"I think you'd better leave." Spike used his strength to begin to lead
the man away from the table and toward the exit. Two of his bouncers
had come up, but with a shake of his head he dismissed them. "There
aren't any cheaters at the Crypt. And we intend to keep it that way.
Don't come back."

Still holding his glass of gin, the man reared back and threw the
tumbler to the ground. It shattered causing several patrons to cry out
and shy away from the pair. Before the man could land a blow, Spike
threw an arm out to block the punch and then let fly with one of his
own. The man went down in a heap. Spike nodded to his bouncers,
who then took charge of the man. Spike was still grimacing with
distaste and no small amount of anger when he felt the slim hand
land on his shoulder.

"What?!" Spike growled before turning around. His brow scrunched
even further when he saw that the owner of the hand was Buffy.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly, searching his face for any
indication.

Spike let loose a quiet curse, grabbing Buffy's arm and leading her
back toward the elevator to her penthouse. He punched the button,
turning her around to face him while they waited. "What am I g tog to
do with you? You don't belong here!"

Buffy cringed. She'd never seen William so angry. She'd only known
him for two days, but he'd been nothing but sweet and understanding.
She could see the anger swirling behind his icy stare, and she
shivered. She knew that the anger had nothing to do with her, but his
words still affected her sharply. He didn't want her here? Where
would she go? She swallowed but did not answer him, nor did he
seem to want an answer from her.

When the elevator doors opened, he shoved her inside. Her bottom
lip was trembling, but he wouldn't allow that to affect him. She didn't
belong here. The sharks were going to swallow her up, and he
wouldn't be able to protect her. He stared intently at her face before
quietly stating, "You worry me Buffy from Kansas. What am I going to
do with you?" They watched each other in silence for a minute before
Spike continued. "Go upstairs. Don't come back down again tonight,
especially not alone. Understand?" He didn't even wait for her nod
before turning and heading back toward the casino.

***

Spike headed back toward the security office. He would have to deal
with the drunken git before he could call it a night. There would be
several reports that needed to be filed, since he'd lost his temper and
actually hit the stupid bloke.

After about two hours of paperwork he was finally able to call it quits.
Not really knowing why he headed up toward Buffy's suite. He had to
make sure she'd gotten in all right didn't he? He had been her escort
tonight hadn't he? Whatever the excuse, he once more found himself
outside Buffy's door.

The bell chimed and he heard muffled steps approaching. When the
door opened he felt a sharp pain in his chest at the sight of Buffy's red
puffy eyes. She sniffled once before asking, "Yes Will?"

Was he here to yell at her again? She'd already decided that as soon
as he paid her she would find a room in another hotel. She knew that
he didn't want her here, but she wasn't about to go back to Trader's
Corners either.

"Buffy, luv. I'm sorry." He immediately apologized, his hand reaching
out to grasp her arm and pull her close. He was surprised when she
resisted.

"There's nothing to apologize for Mr. Giles. I...I'll find another hotel as
soon as you pay me the rest of the money." She cursed her stutter.

"Another hotel? Why?" Spike was confused. He was only just
realizing that Buffy had already changed into her nightgown and his
mind was occupied with that fact.

"You said you don't want me here." She whispered back fiercely.

"No. I said you don't belong here. There's a difference." He answered.

"I don't see it." Buffy turned away from him. "Besides, I know you feel
responsible for me. You don't have to. You don't have to worry about
me at all! I can take care of myself."

"Sure you can. That's why you had to run away from home?" He
knew he'd gone too far when he saw the wince in Buffy's face.

"I didn't run away from home!" She defended herself. "Either way, it's
no concern of yours. You don't have to worry about me."

"I didn't say I worried about you."

"Yes you did."

"No." He took a step closer to her. "I said you worried me."

"What's the difference?" She asked, stifling another sniffle.

"The difference is." Buffy felt as if her feet were stuck to the floor. She
was unable to step away from him when he reached out to wrap an
arm around her waist, bringing their bodies flush against one another.
"You worry me because..." And then his lips were on hers.

Buffy felt the heat radiating from her lips all the way down to her toes.
His hard chest pressed up against her soft breasts, causing her
nipples to harden and pebble. Her arms snaked around to wrap
around his neck, trying to bring him in even closer contact.

Spike felt himself harden at the breathy moan that escaped Buffy as
he plundered her mouth. His hips thrust forward to grind against hers;
his hands came down to cup her rounded buttocks and increase the
pressure.

God, she'd never felt anything like it before! She felt as if he were
devouring her. The kiss was an endless exploration of her very being.
Will's tongue danced in her mouth, touching all the secret places that
made her skin flush and her blood boil.

When he left her mouth to trail open-mouthed kisses along her jaw
and neck she moaned out his name, "Will." The sound was like a
splash of cold water on Spike's face. He pulled away from her long
enough to allow the glazed look to leave her eyes.

"Buffy, have you ever been with a man before?" He asked, already
knowing the answer. Her responses were too instinctively passionate
for the answer to be anything but no.

"Not exactly." She answered, head down in embarrassment.

"Not exactly luv? I think yoknowknow for sure if the answer were yes."
He pulled away from her completely, clamping down on his own
need.

Buffy's body was thrumming and she felt the loss of his touch like a
stake through the heart. She felt cold and empty without him
surrounding her. "W-what's wrong?"

"I told you, you worried me Buffy." His hand came out to cup her
cheek. "You're dangerous luv. But you better watch out. You can't
play the game when you don't know the rules. And you damn well
better make sure you can afford to lose your bet."

Buffy watched him go the door shutting softly behind him, before
collapsing on the couch. She fought the sobs that threatened before
asking the empty room, "But why do I have to lose?"