Touched (Part 1 of 8) Completed

(Characters: Not mine, Joss' - I'm just playin' with 'em)


*Thump Thump Thump*

Xander fought it... the pull toward consciousness. His dream was too good to let go of just yet. Hot...so hot. He knew it was brought on by all the dancing and the kissing. And by God, there had been some touching even. Burrowing deeper into the covers he ignored the sound.

*Bang, Bang... Bang*

“Shshsh, we’re sleeping!” Xan rolled over on his side, forcing his mind back to the dream. Slowly, the image came back into focus. Spike ... trapped in a painting on the wall, looking down at Xander on the bed. Watching him, wanting him. Blue eyes hungry, so hungry for Xander. Nose pressing against an invisible force field. Desire.

Heat curled tight in Xander’s stomach at the thought of Spike aching for him. His skin tightened, grew sensitive, so sensitive that the wind from the ceiling fan teased him, drew a groan from him.

He’d wanted Spike for so long, and now Spike was the one who was staring at him...stroking him with a heated gaze that roved over his body and wouldn’t quit. He was gonna milk the moment, oh yeah. Look how angry Spike looked... angry and hot and needing him. Xander just knew once Spike came out of the painting, he’d be all over him... push him back, take what he wanted. Take what Xan wanted to give him all along.

A little bit of torture would guaranty it, wouldn’t it? Staring back at Spike, Xander pulled his shorts down, gave Spike an eyeful. And oh yeah, Spike was watching. His eyes were focused on Xander, following Xander when he moved around on the bed, following his hand up and down his body. Xander stroked himself, nice and easy, almost coming off the bed at the suddenly anguished expression that crossed Spike’s features.

Want.

Need.

Beg.

A room shattering sound brought Xander wide awake. Heart racing he sat up, shedding the dream as he tried to put together where they were now, and what was happening. No Spike next to him. He glanced toward the bathroom door.

*Bang!*

With a start, he looked at the wall in front of him. “Holy shit!” He scrambled to the head of his bed, staring at Spike.... angry.... hand’s pressed against some invisible force which held him inside a freaking painting!

“Get me out of here Harris, now!” Spike snarled the order.

“Fuck...” Xander couldn’t miss the large bulge in Spike’s leather pants. What was glorious fun in a dream wasn’t half so good in real life. How long had he trapped the vampire? Had he tortured him like he had in his dream? Had he done to Spike what that girl with the love spell had? Sheer panic stopped Xander’s mind from working.

Spike slammed his hand against the invisible force, shaking the thin walls. “Focus. Think me out of this. Do it!”

“I... I can’t.... I’m sor...sorry...”

“Harris, you can... look at me... look at me!”

Forcing himself to meet Spike’s gaze, Xander concentrated. Please, please let it work... please. I want him free.

“You can do it,” Spike’s tone dropped an octave, was reassuring. Soothing. Nice, so nice.

Xander’s chest stopped heaving. “Free... free... free....” He wished he knew magical words, he wished he could whisper them and make what he wanted come true. But nothing was happening. Nothing. He closed his eyes, fighting back the misery. Concentration was not his strong suit. His mind kept wandering. He wasn’t even sure that thinking of Spike as free would do anything. Maybe it would take time, just like all the other times when time wore away the spells. “Free...” he muttered.

“Don’t try that again.” Spike ground out, bringing his face close to Xander’s.

“Sp... Spike, you’re free.” Xander licked his lips, afraid of what to expect next. “I ... I did it...”

“You did it, yes. All bloody night long, shook your hips at me, put your lips against the painting, whispered things...”

Xander covered his eyes as Spike gave him the list of ways in which he’d tortured the vampire. “Oh God... oh God Spike, I’m sorry...”

“... told me all the things you wanted me to do, asked me to fuck you, laughed at my agony, made it worse and worse...”

“Jeez, I did that... I didn’t mean..., you know I wouldn’t want that. Spike I... Mmmph.” Xander’s words were stemmed by Spike’s mouth, kissing him, his tongue slipping in and out, his hands suddenly all over Xander. The effects of the dream came back full force. In two seconds flat, Xander was responding, kissing Spike back, thrusting his arousal into Spike’s palm.

“You like this?” Spike’s tone was silky smooth.

“Yes... oh yes,” Xander was quickly growing breathless.

“And this,” Spike tongue fucked Xander’s ear.

“Oh God yes, Sp... Spike.”

“And you’re sorry?”

“Uh huh, I’m sorry, oh God, Spike please...”

“Well it’s not that easy.” Spike shoved Xander up against the headboard, taking his hand away. “Now who's the one in agony?” His gaze dropped to the proof of Xander’s need.

“Wha...” Still panting, he wasn’t sure what happened. “Spike aren’t you going to do me...”

“Yeah, I am. And you’re going to sit there and watch. Like you made me,” he growled. “Owe me that much. Keep your hands on the bed, you glued mine above the waist didn’t you?”

Xander’s brain was still trying to play catch up as he watched Spike pull up a chair close, sit down in front of him and unzip his pants. His eyes widened as Spike pulled himself out and started stroking, never taking his gaze off Xander’s face. “Wha...”

In great detail, Spike told Xander what he was doing to him. How he was kissing him, how he was touching him. Told him where his hands were, how he was pushing into Xander, how tight Xander was. All the while, Spike stroked himself, growling a warning whenever Xander tried to touch himself.

Panting hard, Xander helplessly thrust against air. He made a mess of the blanket, balling it within his fists. The look in Spike’s lust filled eyes, the tenor of his voice, so heavy and sexy, it was driving him nuts... he wanted the vampire so bad, it hurt. Tears stung his eyes, and still, Spike refused to touch him or allow him to touch himself. And when the vampire came with a groan, exploded right in front of his eyes, Xander almost lost it, almost touched himself.

His eyes widened as Spike abruptly got up, went into the bathroom and slammed the door. “Oh God.” The temptation to help himself was strong. But he knew Spike would know, and somehow... he knew he owed the vampire. Gritting his teeth, he flipped the television on. Cartoons... women... anything to take his mind off the sexy vampire and the smell of sex still hanging in the room.

*

Hours later, they were on the road again. They’d stopped to get food. Oddly, everything was normal. Once Spike got his revenge, it seemed he’d forgotten about holding a grudge or anything.

They laughed and joked. Neither one mentioned the fact they were only hours from Sunnydale. Both probably expected a disaster to stop them from getting there, but so far... nothing.

One thing that bugged Xander was how Spike blew hot and cold. You’d think none of the personal stuff happened. Like they hadn’t danced in each others’ arms. Like Spike hadn’t admitted to wanting him so bad, hadn’t kissed him. They were friends again. Buds. He let out a breath of frustration. “

“Get some sleep Harris.”

“You’re always trying to get me to sleep. Look what happened last night when I slept.” Uh... so not a good topic to bring up. Was he an idiot?

“Mmm got a point there.”

“I do? Huh?”

“You’re dangerous when you’re asleep and dangerous when you’re awake. What kind of warlock did you say you were?”

See... there he went again, all business. “A Jagard warlock, no idea what that means.”

“It’ll be good once you’re all trained. Maybe you’ll be able to do some useful non-sexual things.”

Heat burned Xander’s cheeks. “Can’t help it. I’m a guy. They say guys think of sex every few seconds...”

“And some of us are obsessed with glue, leather, wetness, and big bad vampires.”

Xander swallowed. “Guess it’s a good thing I’m not obsessed with Angelus.” Was it his imagination or did Spike’s hands tighten on the steering wheel?

“When we get there, you’ll stay? I mean at Buffy’s. You know, for the first night?” he asked, trying not to sound like he was begging.

Spike glanced out the side window, then straight ahead. His mouth flattened into a straight line. Finally, he answered. “Sure mate. Could do.”

*.

They hadn’t said a word to each other from the minute they crossed into the Sunnydale city limits. There was tension. Both knew that Xander wasn’t ready to go home yet. That the only reason he was going back was to deal with his powers.

There had been physical manifestations of his desire not to get home. A few times, the car had started to shake. When music from the radio didn’t do a thing, Spike hummed along with it. That seemed to help. The shaking never got too bad. Nothing rammed against the car. No lightning bolts struck.

Spike turned into the driveway at Buffys, put the car into park and pulled up the hand brake. Silence. Five minutes came and went. Then ten. Spike turned his head and searched Xander’s face.

Xander took a deep breath. “We gotta go, don’t we.”

Spike shook his head. “Not until you’re ready.”

A hug. A kiss. He’d take anything, but couldn’t ask. Taking another big lungfull of air, Xander opened the door. “Thanks Spike, for not leaving me on my ass. I know there were plenty of times you wanted to.”

Giving a nod, Spike followed him out of the car and up the stairs of the porch. It took one knock, and then Buffy was outside, hugging Xander.

“You’re home.” She pulled him inside, letting the screen door slam shut.

“Bloody great. No welcome home Spike,” the vampire muttered, opening the door for himself and walking inside. At least Dawn’s welcoming shrieks made him feel like he wasn’t invisible.

“Giles is on his way,” Buffy flopped down on the sofa next to Xander. “He’s been doing a lot of research. Looks like there isn’t much written on Jagard warlocks, but he’s getting you some help. Live help.”

“You mean... gonna get to meet one?” Xander bit his lip, trying to tell himself it was gonna be okay. Little did he know he was shaking his leg, bouncing it up and down.

“Maybe that should wait until tomorrow. Give the boy a chance to breath.”

“I’m not nervous.” Xander felt the weight of spike’s gaze, and put his hand on his knee, to stop the movements. “Just worried about Giles... I mean after what happened.”

“Giles is going to live,” Buffy grinned. “So... you gonna spill? He said there’s something that happened that he couldn’t talk about. What kinda secrets is he keeping from us?”

Xander gave a nervous cough. “Nothing much.”

“Other than he assaulted the eyes of a room full of men...”

“Spike!”

“Mooned them, he did. I wonder how many of them won’t ever get over the sight.”

“Spike... I promised!”

“Well I didn’t,” Spike turned innocent eyes to Buffy, grinning at her confused expression. “That’s right Slayer, he did a full Monty.”

“Giles... our Giles?” Dawn squealed, and started to ask questions over the others’ laughter when the front door opened.

“Giles. We were just talking about you.”

Xander gripped Spike’s arm, digging his fingers in as he hissed near his ear. “Shut up!”

The conspiratorial looks being exchanged had Giles giving Xander a stern look. Not that he’d expected him to be able to keep a secret to himself for long. But he couldn’t have been in the house for more than a half hour. He cleared his throat. “I’d like to introduce you to Joseph, Mantinek and Cronos.”

“Got yourself three warlocks for the price of one, did you?” Spike stood up and found himself a place to perch at the opposite end of the room, from where he could see all of them. He didn’t like the men, not one bit.

“Hi, I’m Xander. You must be the Men In Black coming to take me away,” he joked. Eeps, no sense of humor in those long unfriendly faces.

“Mr. Harris,” Cronos, the tallest of the three suited men gave a nod. “We understand you’re one of us, a late bloomer at that. There are some things we do need to teach you.”

“Oh goody, warlock school. Ugh, did I just say ‘goody’ in the same sentence as school?” Xander was aghast.

“Exactly. If you’ll come with us.”

“What? No....” Xander backed away from the stern faces, backed up into Spike.

“Where does he need to be? He can come by for his lessons tomorrow, yeah?”

“Actually Mr....”

“Spike.”

“Mr. Spike, it isn’t a day class sort of thing. He needs to come to the temple. We’ll give him all he needs, help him. Once he controls his power, he’ll be free to leave.”

“Free....” Xander cocked his head. “You mean I’m not so free before that?”

“Yeah. What’s going on Giles?” Buffy met the watcher’s gaze.

“Buffy, Xander. Calm down. From what I gather, late blooming Jagard warriors can cause tremendous damage and must be under supervision during intense training until they can control their powers.”

“Spike’s right, we’ll just get him there everyday.”

“No, I’m not going ...”

Spike felt Xander’s arm go around his waist. “You heard the boy.”

“You don’t understand,” Cronos said. “It’s not a matter of choice. It is our way. He’ll learn, we’ll find what it is that grounds him, and he’ll be back. But until then, to keep society safe, as well as knowledge of our people a secret, he’ll have to come with us.”

Spike’s eyes flashed with danger. “Bugger off, or I’ll feed you your own arses.”

At the sound of Dawn’s indrawn breath, Giles ordered her to her room. Then went into diplomatic mode. “Let’s talk about this.”

Cronos and Joseph started to advance on Xander, starting off a chain of events.

Buffy crossed in front of them, blocking their way.

Spike shoved Xander behind him.

And Xander.... Xander’s eyes went wild with anger and terror at the prospect of going anywhere with the men. There was a low rumble. It grew louder, and louder. Until the ground started shaking under their feet.

Giles gripped the edge of a table. “You must calm yourself, Xander.”

Paintings fell off the wall, a light fixture fell to the ground, smashed into a thousand bits. The windows began to rattle so hard, the glass was in danger of shattering.

“We must take him now, before his power grows faster than his ability to control it.” Cronos moved on Xander.

“No... I’m not going, Spike tell them... I’m not going..”

“Buffy,” Giles warned, as he saw her siding with Spike and Xander. “They showed me evidence of whole cities being wiped out because one of theirs was not grounded and had a dream. It’s a dangerous business. I assure you, I performed a thorough check of the temple, he’ll be comfortable and safe... oh for God’s sake, look what is happening,” he said with a touch of impatience at the mulish look on her face and Spike’s. “Do you want him to be responsible for a catastrophe?”

A sofa sailed through the air, at Cronos. The warlock raised his hand, and forced it down to the ground. But other things started to get hurled about the room, smashing against the wall. “Not going, not going.” Xander’s heart raced as he thought of some mental ward type padded holding cell they’d keep him in.

Cronos raised his hand. “Enough. Come.”

An invisible force started to drag Xander toward the warlock. “No, no... Spike, you promised. You said you’d stay the first night. Spike....”

Feeling Xander claw at him, cling to him like a life boat, Spike’s throat constricted. He held on to the boy for as long as he could, but knew in the end he’d have to let him go and train. He’d seen how destructive or uncontrollable Xander’s dreams could be, on a grander scale, it might be as bad as they said.

“Spike please, Buffy? Spiiiike!”

One by one, Xander’s fingers loosened around the material of Spike’s shirt. He stumbled toward the strangers, his eyes filled with tears.

“Let me...” Spike had to clear his throat. “I’ll come with you. He trusts me, knows me.”

“It’s not our way. He needs to concentrate completely.” Turning, the three men headed for the door, with some sort of traction still pulling on Xander, forcing him to walk backwards behind them.

Gaze locked with Xander’s, Spike was only vaguely aware of the promises and whispered avowals of love by Buffy. He didn’t need to listen to Xander’s angry pleas, he could read his feelings. Dark soulful eyes, reproachful. Eyes that begged him for help. Eyes that damned him for his betrayal.

“Spike.” Buffy turned after the door closed.

But Spike was gone before Buffy could see the tears stinging his eyes.


(A/N: Thank you for all your comments letting me know you are still enjoying it. I wish there were a way to "respond" to comments but I guess this will have to do. I really appreciate them and... feel free to keep commenting ::grins::)