End of Days

Spike awoke to the sound of running water

Title: End of Days

Chapter: Chapter Nine – The Shower

Author: Queen Akasha

Rating: NC17 in some chapters



Summary: B/S. Season Seven. Buffy and Spike have to have a little chat.

Feedback: I’d love it!!!! This site or e-mail me at Queen_Akasha@telus.net

Disclaimer: Dear Joss: Can I have him? Just for a while to play with? I’ll give him back (fingers crossed). Pretty please????

Spoilers: Up to the end of Season Six. This is my fictional season seven, taking into consideration some spoilers for season six.

Distribution: Sure, if you WANNA. Let me know, K?

 
 


Spike awoke to the sound of running water. Instantly alert, like most predators, he realized that it was a shower in the next room. Feeling unthreatened, he took stock of his surroundings.

He was lying in a fairly rumpled bed in what appeared to be a hotel room. The window coverings were aided in their sun stoppage by an added blanket, but his vampiric senses told him that it was about mid morning. The clothes that Buffy had been wearing yesterday were neatly folded on a chair, and her scent was in the bed with him. * She slept with me, * he thought, bemused.

He gingerly sat up and was surprised to find that he felt fairly well, if hungry. * Slayers’ blood, * he thought, as the events of yesterday refreshed themselves in his mind. The last thing he remembered before passing out was a big black man on the road, a man who reminded him of ……. well he wasn’t going to let himself think about that right now. That was Buffy in the shower, and he had more important things to think about. He stood and looked down at his body. His bruises had faded to a sickly greenish hue. There was a loose bandage on his wounded arm, which he unwound. To his surprise, the edges of the cut had begun to knit back together. He was sure that it would have taken a great deal longer, and wondered how long he had been out.

Naked, he prowled around the room, opening closets and finally the little mini-fridge. He was surprised and touched to find some bags of blood, and even a cup of the stuff. He pulled out the cup and sniffed. * Buffy’s blood, * he thought, raising an eyebrow at the thought of her milking a vein for the likes of him. He popped the mug into the little microwave for a minute, and drank the contents slowly, savoring the flavour and the thoughts of her leaving breakfast for him.

Slayers blood was indeed energizing, and he felt even stronger. The shower was still running, but Spike didn’t know how long his borrowed strength would last. He needed to talk to Buffy, about many things, so he tapped on the bathroom door.

"Buffy, Luv, are you almost done?" he asked quietly. He was astonished when she replied, "Spike, please come in."

 
 
 
 
 
 
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Spike opened the door and walked into the steamy bathroom. Buffy slid back the shower curtain and stood there naked in the spray. She smiled, he supposed at his nudity, and offered him her hand to climb into the tub. He didn’t have to be asked twice, and immediately stepped in beside her. She closed the curtain, wrapping them in their own little womb-like cocoon. She reached behind her and grabbed a bottle of body wash and one of those little pouffed sponges. She carefully squirted soap on the sponge, avoiding Spike’s gaze. She made a lather with her hand and the sponge, and then raised her eyes to his. Without saying anything, she repositioned them so that his back was to the shower head, and then began to lather his front, starting at his shoulders. Spike caught the spicy scent of cloves.

Still washing him, Buffy said, "Spike, I have to tell you something, but it’s hard for me. Would it be OK for me to tell you a story?"

* What now, * he thought. * I suppose she’s sorry she found me and wants to take me back to jail.* Whatever it was, Buffy did appear to be scared to tell him. Her heart started to pound faster, and her respiration increased. *If she hadn’t already broken up with me, I’d think she was going to do it again, * Spike worried. *But why would she invite me into the shower? * Spike felt himself becoming aroused just by her proximity, and it was even worse now that she had started washing his chest, and the rough sponge occasionally grated against his nipples, but he sternly told himself to back off. He felt that she had to talk to him, and he needed to hear what she had to say. Their physical attraction to one another was so great that it tended to overshadow ordinary conversation. He smiled gently down at her. "Anything you like, love."

Buffy looked up at his face. She couldn’t believe that she was scared. *Scared of Spike!!! * she chided herself. She continued with soaping his body, buying time. She noted that his arm had healed considerably since last night. *Guess JB knows what he’s doing, * she thought. She moved to his stomach, and was slightly gratified to see him bite his lip as his cock twitched. * There’s hope for us yet, * she thought. She hadn’t slept at all last night; instead she had spent the time admiring him and feeling comforted in his presence. As he slept, he was almost ethereal in his charm. Even with the bruising and scars he was beautiful – not a word she would use for any other man. He wouldn’t like her thinking that way – he’d think it wasn’t manly. She had also done a lot of soul searching. Sometimes things just suddenly became clear. She knew now that she loved him. She had probably always been attracted to him – he WAS sexy as hell, even though he knew it. But it wasn’t just his physical presence that she loved. She loved his attitude, his truth, his courage, his loyalty, his wit, and too many other things to name. And apparently his coat. * Ha Ha. * She didn’t know when her feelings had deepened into love, but she did know that she had loved him for awhile and had been lying to herself, telling herself that she couldn’t love him.

Everything had been black and white for her for so long, and it was difficult for her eyes to adjust to shades of grey. Spike had been evil, yes, but he was changing himself, for the better. And if the chip started the change in him, and love for her kept it going, who was she to belittle him. He was an unusual white knight, riding in on a charger to save the day. Never mind chain mail and war horses – Spike’s version was leather and cycles. But on him it worked.

She had thought long and hard last night – a thing that she had been avoiding for some time now. Self introspection wasn’t one of her strong suits. But there comes a time when every woman must look inside and make a choice. Love, of course, was not a choice, but acknowledgment of it was. And she had chosen Spike. For better or worse - that sounded as if they were getting married, but the phrase just seemed to fit. She was just scared that he’d had enough of her, and had changed his mind. She HAD treated him abominably, and she couldn’t blame him if he didn’t love her anymore. She could only hope that he still did.

"Once upon a time," she said, bending down to soap his legs, and discreetly avoiding other parts of him, despite one "other parts" apparent interest in the proceedings, "there was a girl. She wasn’t a normal girl, kinda like Supergirl without the flying and kryptonite and stuff. But she always wanted to be normal. One day, she met a man. He was like nothing she’d met before. He was supposed to be her enemy, but things happened, and he started changing. And the girl changed too," she said, looking up at his face to see how he was taking this. He was staring down at her with frightening intensity, with a look on his face that she couldn’t decipher. She couldn’t meet his gaze, so she stood and turned him around so that the spray was hitting his chest. He patiently let her position him as she liked.

She started soaping his back with the sponge, and then discarded it in favour of her hands. She squirted body wash in her palm, created a lather, and then began massaging it over his skin. A moan of pleasure spilled out of his lips before he could stifle it. The feel of his flesh against her hands was creating a pleasant tingling sensation in her groin and nipples. She shook her head. *No, not yet. I need to get this out – finish talking to him. Then, maybe, if he still wants me ….. *

"OK, so the girl changed," she continued, "But she wouldn’t admit to herself that she had. She had thought that she and the man were good and evil, two sides of a coin. She must have realized that a coin needs BOTH sides to exist, but wouldn’t let herself think it." She moved her hands lower, now washing the small of his back. "It’s true , though," she said, slipping out of her story. Spike turned his head and looked at her. She kept her hands on his body – it was easier for her to talk. "I DO need you to exist."

Spike turned around to face her, and took her in his arms. "Buffy, I……." he said. She placed two fingers on his lips. "Wait, there’s more. I have to finish. The girl realized out of the blue one day that she had deep feelings for the man. And she felt bad because she had hurt him so many times in the past. She just wanted things to be normal, but for her that's not meant to be. And that’s OK. Now she needs to tell him. She ………" Buffy took Spike’s face in her hands and looked up at him. "I love you, Spike. With or without a chip, with or without a soul. I see you for who you are, and I love you anyways. Now the question is, after all the pain I’ve caused you, can you still love me?"

 
 
 
 
 
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Spike felt as if all the wind had been knocked out of him. Lucky for him, he was a vampire, and didn’t need to breathe. He had wished for this day for so long, without any real hope. And here it was. He felt tears start in his eyes. *Bloody poofter, * he thought. He hugged her closer, enjoying the feel of her body in his arms. It had been too long, and he’d been through too many things. He leaned his head back and looked into her eyes, large with apprehension. *How could she doubt me?* he thought. He felt her body tremble against his.

"Buffy," he said gently. "I think I started loving you the moment I saw you, on the dance floor at the Bronze. It took me a while to admit it to myself, but I loved you then and I love yow. ow. I’ll never stop. Even when I’m dust, I’ll love you. If the world was to end, it wouldn’t stop me loving you. If we were separated by an ocean, I’d find you. If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you. If mountains crumbled to the sea, there would still be you and me."

Buffy’s smile grew wider and wider. "Is that last bit a poem?" she asked. "Cause it sounds familiar." Spike grinned back at her. "Well, love, it kind of is, if Page and Plant were poets. It’s lyrics from a Led Zeppelin song." She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead into the hollow of his shoulder, feeling weak with relief. *He still loves me,* she thought. * I always KNEW Scarlett got Rhett back. *

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TBC

 
 
 
I was going to write more but this seemed a good place to leave it. But now that they’re already naked…………..

Thanks for the feedback and e-mails. It helps me wanna write faster. Please feel free to critique anything – it’s helpful.

>)