Vikings, Sires and Siblings

Part 6

"You know what?"

Xander said as he rolled onto his back and pulled Spike with him so that his mate was snuggled into his side.

"I think we should get a new bedroom suite."

Spike lifted his head and looked Xander in the eye.

"What? We just bought this one. You went on and on about how you wanted this set - even though no vampire in his right mind would want to surround himself with wood while he's asleep and vulnerable. Why the sudden change of heart?"

Xander’s gaze flickered over the table by the door. It was still intact, but he could clearly remember himself breaking one of the legs off and coming at his mate with it. He shuddered and closed his eyes.

"I just... I can't look at this one anymore."

"Xan, love, you didn't tell me what happened. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No!"

Xander shoved Spike off of his chest and sat up; he swung his legs over the side of the bed and was about to stand when cool arms slipped around him from behind and a soft kiss was placed on the back of his neck.

"It might help to talk about it. I know I felt better after I told you about..."

"I know. But this, this is... God Spike. I could really hurt you! Hurt all of you."

Xander hung his head and sobbed as Spike pulled him around and held him close.

"Shh, love. You won't hurt me. You won't hurt them either."

"But I did. I killed them, killed you too."

Xander’s answer was whispered so softly that had Spike not been a vampire, he wouldn't have heard it. As it was, he stiffened considerably and drew a little ways back from his mate. He tilted Xander’s head up and kissed him softly before looking him in the eye.

"I think you need to tell me what's going on here, love. I want to help, but I have to know what happened before I can do that."

Xander nodded his head and began telling Spike about what had happened, about what he had thought he'd done in fit of jealous rage.

~!~

Downstairs, Willow was pacing in the kitchen as Buffy told her what had happened when she had finally found Xander - how he had been waiting on the rooftop for the sun to come up.

"Oh, Goddess; poor Xander!"

"I know. I mean, I get that he and Spike are together; I guess I just never realised how together they are. He was so... lost. I mean, yeah, he was hurting because of what he thought he had done to you and Tara, but when he told me about Spike, he... God. He really loves him."

Willow shook her head.

"It's more than that, Buffy. They're mated. They're two halves of a whole, neither one complete without the other. What Tara and I have - what you and Angel once had - it's nothing compared to what Xander and Spike have. I don't even know how to explain it."

"I think I got it. Wow. I mean, I thought... Angel was the first man I ever loved, and it still hurts when I think about what could have been. Don't get me wrong, I'm over him now - we would never work; vampire, slayer. It wasn't meant to be. But if it still hurts me to think about Angel, what'll happen to Xander and Spike if one of them leaves? Or gets killed?"

Buffy looked up at Willow with genuine worry in her eyes and Willow stopped pacing and took a seat beside Buffy at the table.

"They won't leave each other, Buffy. They can't. They're bonded."

"So... even if they didn't love each other anymore they'd be stuck with each other?"

"Yeah. That's why you don't hear of mated vampires very often. No such thing as divorce. The only way out is to kill yourself or your mate - and if you did that, you'd die soon anyway. One can't survive without the other."

Buffy's eyes widened in shock.

"So, when they say forever, they really mean it?"

"Oh yeah."

~!~

Spike held Xander and rocked him back and forth. He could hardly contain his anger at whoever was doing this to them. He couldn't imagine how much pain Xander had to have been in, coming home and finding his lover in their bed with someone else. He could understand why he had staked him. To be betrayed twice in the same number of days, and in his own home? Staking might have been too good for him.

And to top it all off, he had thought he'd killed his best friend since childhood. That sort of thing would leave scars. Especially the way he thought he'd done it. Spike had torn people to pieces before - the mob that had tried to burn his Dru, for example - and he knew it was bloody and messy and in a demon’s point of view, exhilarating. That was probably what was hurting Xander the most. That in his rage, his demon got off on it.

Spike was brought out of his musings as he felt Xander’s lips begin to wander along the column of his throat. He knew his mate needed reassurance, and sex was the best way to reassure the demon aspect of him.

Xander gasped as Spike flipped them over and kissed him hard. He let himself be drawn away from the pain and horror of the night before and lost himself in the sensation of his mate’s lips on his, his hands on his skin, his hard cock thrusting against him. He opened his legs and canted his hips, unaware that he was chanting "Please, please, please" against Spike’s lips.

Spike reached toward the table for the lube when his wrist was caught in a tight grip.

"No. Just fuck me."

"Xan, I don't want to hurt you, not now."

"I want you to... I need this."

Spike felt himself begin to tear up. The desperation in Xander’s voice, the need for pain - for punishment - was almost too much.

"Okay, love. Okay."

Spike positioned himself at Xander’s entrance and plowed into him without preparation. He swallowed Xander’s cries with his own mouth as he plundered his mate’s lips. He could feel the blood around his shaft; knew that Xander had torn - badly - but started to piston in and out of him anyway. Sometimes, you just needed to bleed.

The pain was cleansing. It made him feel alive again, but more than that, it was Spike who was making him feel. He needed this, God he needed this, and as the pain turned to pleasure, he opened his now-yellow eyes and looked into the eyes of his lover, his mate, his eternity.

"Love you, Spike. Love you so damn much."

"I know, pet. I love you too."

"Show me?"

Xander turned his head and bared his throat to his mate. Spike bent down and licked along the sweet skin of his neck before whispering in his mate’s ear.

"Mine."

The bite was hard. It was brutal and painful and wouldn't heal for days. It was what Xander wanted, and Spike would always give him what he wanted. Even if it hurt him to do so. As Xander climaxed, screaming Spike’s name, Spike removed his fangs, buried his face into the pillow next to Xander’s head and roared. It was only partly in pleasure. Mostly it was in anger at what was happening to them, at what he was helpless to stop.

Finally, Xander wriggled beneath him and Spike rolled off of him. He lay on his back, yellow eyes staring unblinking at the ceiling.

"I think we need a rubber sheet."

Xander muttered from beside him. He blinked then. Turning to look at his mate, he asked why.

"Because, I think we just ruined the mattress."

Spike looked more closely and then swore softly at the amount of blood on the bed between Xander’s legs.

"Shit, love. I'm sorry."

"Don't. It's exactly what I wanted. I needed that."

Spike nodded his understanding and flopped back onto his back. He knew what was coming, he knew they needed help. Whoever was after them wasn't going to stop. Not until he made them stop.

"I think we need to call Angel."

"Yeah. You're probably right."

~!~

In the kitchen, Buffy and Willow were both blushing and pointedly not looking at each other. The rhythmic thumping of the bed combined with the howls, growls, and snarls from upstairs was kind of hard to ignore, but they were giving it their best try. Finally, Willow broke the silence.

"Is it all vampires? Or just those two?"

"Why are you asking me?"

Buffy asked with wide eyes. Willow giggled at her friend’s expression.

"You're the only other person I know who has slept with a vampire. So... was Angel this loud?"

Buffy blushed and looked down.

"No. But we were only together the once, and maybe he was just trying not to scare me?"

"Maybe. I bet Spike would know."

Buffy looked at Willow in horror.

"No. You don't think... Oh, ewww! Angel and Spike? My Angel and the bleached wonder? Gross!"

"Well, I think it was probably Angelus, not Angel. And most likely a very long time ago. If you remember, Spike wasn't all that happy to have Angelus back a few years ago."

"True, but still, eww."

Buffy crinkled her nose and Willow laughed. The noise from upstairs had died off and the girls both breathed a sigh of relief.

~!~