Future Written in Blood ((Complete))

Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters, it's all owned by Joss Wheldon and Mutant Enemy. Yada, Yada :)
Status: Work in Progress. R & R please!
Distribution: I would be honored. Just let me know where it is going!

**** Thanks to Luba, TalesofSpike, Janeka, T-geyer, Wei-li, Lynn, Joni, SAB, BlackRane, Julz, Caelists for all of your kind words. And yes, it did make me write faster!!!!!

*****Special Thanks to Isis for going Huh?? And making me write parts of this chapter into the great chapter it ended up.


Chapter 9: Cozy Igloo with a View


The following day, Sebastian arranged for Spike and Buffy to have some time to train in what could only remotely be called a fighting arena. It turned out to be really more like an ice rink. As Buffy looked around, she thought that maybe they should be playing hockey instead of exchanging blows or wasn’t that what hockey was? Skating she knew, but she wasn’t too sure about trying to spin kick some idiot in the face as her standing leg slid around below her. Major battle plan changes were needed here.

Whether they would actually be helpful or not, Sebastian did provide Spike and Buffy with shoes with cleats on the bottom. Working out their footing on the ice and snow took quite a bit of time and inevitably included numerous slides, tumbles, and collisions with any object surrounding the rink: trees, buckets, benches and even each other. Sebastian and Clara kept well clear of the activities to observe and were surprised that anything was left standing, even a winner on some type. In fact, Spike started to look around for places to start a few well-placed fires. Mud wrestling might be preferable to this slick shit for a fight.

A couple of hours later, Leilor showed up rink side and invited everyone to lunch and then for a visit to the natural hot springs adjacent to their lodging. Sebastian and Clara agreed to join everyone for lunch, but bowed out of the spa experience in lieu of some business that Clara reminded Sebastian had to be taken care of. Reluctant to make her healing scars and bruises visiable, Buffy still found the idea of soaking her aching body in a hot spa just too enticing, and the rumbling of her stomach made the final decision for her as to lunch.

After a delicious lunch, Sebastian and Clara said their goodbyes. Leilor led Buffy and Spike over to the beautiful bathhouse built for the natural hot springs located adjacent to their lodge. Leilor had conveniently reserved the house for their private use for the rest of the afternoon. The bathhouse contained one communal bath in the center with three individual private baths around the central area.

In the women’s changing room, Buffy chose one of the bathing suits and a robe, changed quickly and hastily retreated to one the private baths to hide her battle bumps and bruises as Leilor had suggested. She literally moaned with pleasure as she sunk down into the tiled bath. She could feel her muscles relax, one by one by one, which would have all moaned in unison with Buffy if muscles were able. After a few minutes of pure, heated bliss, Buffy leisurely opened up her eyes and examined her wounds and bruises from the fight with Mr. Cheater Lizard. The bruises were fading quickly, and the cuts were closed, not even the scars would be visible much longer. Satisfied with her overall healing, Buffy settled back to enjoy this rare pleasure.

The only problem that Buffy could find in this little bit of heaven was that she was facing the door that she had accidentally left cracked open. Damn, Spike and Leilor could see into her private heaven. Oh, what the hell! Buffy was under the water, roasty-toasty, and way too comfortable to care enough to move. But, wait, that also meant that she could see out into the communal bath. Hummm. That could be very interesting in a voyeuristic sort of way. Way to go, French-speaking Buffy. Quietly shifting, Buffy moved to spy what she could see with her little eye.

But what she did see didn’t make her very happy. Leilor was in the bath already, with no Spike-would-be-stud-muffin in sight. Ewww, really didn’t want to see Leilor primp and adjust her boobs in her bathing suit to their best cleavage advantage for him anyway.

At that point, Buffy considered turning her back to the whole scene, but then Spike came into view. That’s when Leilor’s words came back to haunt Buffy, and Leilor had certainly been right. “Appealing” and “sexy” where two words that could and did describe Spike, not to mention a nearly naked Spike. Maybe Buffy had been a little hasty on that stud muffin dig. Absently wondering if the spa was getting a little hotter, Buffy found herself leaning over to one side farther and farther, trying to keep him in view. And she was ok with the leaning until she realized she was now leaning to see around Leilor who was now practically sitting in Spike’s lap. No wonder that little purple slut wanted Buffy to use one of the private rooms.

With a splash, Buffy turned around to go back to her calm, soothing, hot soak, but she could still hear the voices and laughter from the next bath. And then …wait…surely not…no…the sound…of kissing! Spike and Leilor kissage. Well, they couldn’t do that. Buffy wasn’t sure why not, but she just knew it had to stop.

Bounding out of her bath and bundling up in her robe, Buffy rushed over to the door. At first, she loudly coughed to try to gain their attention, but no, lips were still locked to lips. Buffy banged the door when she entered the communal area.

Startled, Leilor gave Buffy a territorial glare. Too bad, Buffy thought, today is not your free ticket to Spike day.

Seeing Buffy’s approach, Spike rolled his eyes up until they were practically closed, relieved but embarrassed to have the Slayer joining them. Leilor was a beautiful woman, but had turned out to be quite the octopus in the water, hands everywhere at once. Her kiss had come as a surprise, and Spike had been unsure how to end it politely without offending the Mayor’s daughter. But then his eyes shot open as the Slayer dropped her robe to step into the communal bath.

Buffy wanted to yank Leilor by her violet hair clear across the bath, but instead, slapped a fake smile on her own face and tried for some small talk. “Hi. I was getting a little lonely in there, and you, two, sounded like you were having so much fun in here. I thought I would join you…” Now Buffy wanted to slap herself. Foot in the mouth much, Buff? It was their “having fun” that was the problem in the first place, and she certainly didn’t want to join in. Ménage-a-whatever was soooo not going to happen here.

Now Buffy was regretting her impulsiveness to interrupt them. Not because she had interrupted their lust-fest but due to the look on Spike’s face. She knew she still looked worse for the wear from the previous fight. Self-consciously, Buffy quickly sunk down into the water, avoiding the vampire’s sharp gaze.

But Buffy couldn’t have been more wrong about the vampire’s train of thought. Initially, Spike was of course horrified by the injuries on her body, but regardless of any black or blue, she was gorgeous. Spike had seen the Slayer in skimpy out fits before, but never in this incredibly small, swatch of fabric, never that much skin exposed all at once. If Buffy had bothered to look back up at his face, she would have seen his shock rapidly change into an open appreciation. And Spike thanked whatever gods watching over this dimension that his lower half of his body was hidden below the water. Maybe Leilor had somewhere she had to be?

Buffy continued her attempts to make small talk: about the sparring this morning, about the plentiful snow, and about how convenient that a vampire can go outside most of the time due to the heavy overcast. Butkfirkfire big time, did it, when Buffy realized that Leilor started to relax again and settle back down onto Spike’s lap.

That had Spike jumping. Leilor was going to sit down on more than she bargained for. And since that little surprise wasn’t directed at Leilor now, as politely as he could, Spike moved Leilor to sit beside him. Damn it, didn’t this woman have an appointment or something? The three chatted for a few more minutes before Spike finally said that he was ready to go back to the room, make an early night of it with the fight in the morning, to which Buffy readily agreed.

******
After the spa, when they got back to their suite, both Spike and Buffy beat a hasty retreat to their respective rooms to shower and change. Had anyone been keeping time, they would have laughingly noticed each took an abnormally longer time to primp than usual and how each wanted to appear casual but still look good doing it.

Spike was first ant and headed for the refrigerator and a pint of blood. He was warming it up when the Slayer made it out of her room. Without a word, she joined him in the kitchen and fixed herself a salad.

They both ate in and companionable silence as the night fell outside.

Eventually, Spike broke the comfortable silence. “Wish we had a telly…”

Smiling, Buffy thought for a moment, and then asked, “How about stars?”

“As in movies?” That perked the vampire up.

“No, you TV freak, falling stars. Sebastian mentioned that this place is known for its spectacular meteor showers —that’s when the sky actually dark instead of overcast, and it looks like the nights clear.”

“Sounds interesting, pet, except for the cold. Too cold for you out there at night.”

Buffy looked their suite over for supplies. “Well, we could watch through these big, picture windows.”

“And it just so happens that I’ve become rather good at moving sofa’s around lately.”

Thus said, Spike pulled one of the sofas up to one of the large picture windows while Buffy grabbed a couple of throws to ward off the chill. “Mr. Bloody, you are truly a vampire of many hidden talents.” They both sat down and then leaned forward to watch.

After a few minutes and no stars, Buffy leaned back but still stared at the sky, while Spike shook his head skeptically. “Sure!! There’s supposed to be a star show tonight. Slayer, don’t buy any swamp land here.”

“Pessimist, the sky looks likes the sky is clear enough. The showers should start anytime. Let’s give it a few minutes.”

“Fine, but sitting here staring up at the night sky calls for some alcohol. Wonder what passes for such in this dimension?”

Buffy could hear Spike scrounging around in the kitchen. When he came back, he waved a bottle in her face. “’Suppose this is some sort of wine. Are you game to try some?”

“Sure.”

The contents of the bottle tasted very much like wine but a little sweeter. They sipped in silence for a few more minutes.

“Spike, was it a good kiss?”

Spike thought he would let her simmer for a while longer and to give him a moment to debate if this was Buffy jealousy that he was seeing for the first time. “What kiss, luv?”

Buffy just rolled her eyes, “You *know,* the one with Leilor.”

“Saw that, did you, pet?” Spike had wondered, if not hoped, that Buffy had been watching. “Do you think she loves you?”

That question had Spike spitting out his mouth full of wine, “Huh?”

“Leilor looks at you with what could eventually be love in her eyes, through dinner last night, during the dancing, and obviously when she was all over you in the spa today.”

Spike wondered if Buffy recognized her own jealousy because he was sure he was seeing it now. What fun this could be! “No, pet, that’s just good, honest attraction with a touch of lust to keep things interesting. We certainly have not known each other long enough to develop anything more meaningful.” Spike wiggled his eyebrows at her. “But lust can be real pleasurable.”

“Then she could be to you like Parker was to me, a mistake.”

“You mean that love’em and leave’em git at UC of Sunnydale? Could Leilor be like him? Maybe, maybe not. Don’t know, pet, but you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself over that bugger. You were still on the rebound from Peaches, and being on the rebound is always a tricky tight rope walk.”

“Yeah, rebound. Angel was supposed to have been my soul mate, or so I have thought for so many years. It was hard to think any other way.”

“Young dreams die hard.”

“Yeah, like dreams of being a normal girl.”

“And enter Captain Cardboard.”

“He was tall, handsome, smart…”

“In a word, normal.”

“Yeah, but he loved me.”

“But you didn’t love him.”

“No, I don’t think I ever did. I tried. I tried so hard, but I don’t think I ever actually did. I still have so many regrets regarding Riley.

“Why?”

“Riley felt he was inferior to me when it came to fighting…”

“And you felt bad because you felt that he was inferior, a liability to you and to your job.”

“Yeah, loads of guilt there.”

Spike took his throw, folded it neatly into a pillow which he placed in his lap. Giving it a pat, “Come lay your head here, little missy, and let me play Freud for a bit.” Buffy needed no second invitation.

After she had settled down, Spike began. “Two things, Slayer.” Spike waited a moment until her hazel eyes looked into his own blue ones. “First, your business is helping needy people. I think it is perfectly reasonable to not want a needy boyfriend, also. Second, Riley was lucky to have what time he had with you. And if you ever quote me on that, I’ll deny I said anything so nice to a slayer.”

Buffy didn’t know what to say so she just watched out the window and thought for a moment dig digest his words. Having finally sorted them out, Buffy asked, “If Parker was my monumental mistake, so who was yours? No…wait, let me guess. Harmony!”

“Got it in one, pet. Or maybe she should count for two.” They both laughed together comfortably.

When Buffy finally caught her breath, “What was Harmony? A brain glitch?”

“A great piece of ass…..Ow!” Spike broke off abruptly holding his side that B had had elbowed. “Bloody hell, woman. Don’t ask if you don’t want to know.” Rubbing his ribs once again before letting her settle her head back down on the make shift pillow in his lap, shifting to make sure he did not embarrass Buffy by any rising bulges.

“But if she had such a great ass, why no more Harmony?”

“That bint, Harmony, had negative IQ points, like a black hole. If you stood too close, you lost some IQ points yourself, like they were sucked out of you. Mostly, though, I finally figured out that she wasn’t what I was looking for.” Now uncomfortable with the turn in the conversation , Spike was saved by the meteor show putting in an appearance. “Hey! Look to the right, looks like the stars are going to fall for us, after all.”

“Oh, how beautiful. They are pinkish. I would have thought they were going to be purple in this dimension.” Buffy’s little joke helped ease the tension.

The pair watched for a while in silence, until Buffy asked the next question, “Drusilla it, it, though, didn’t she?”

“No, not Dru, either. That’s why I don’t still chase her. I am looking for the kind of love that, both of you know without question that it is love between you. An everlasting love that can be conveyed in a look or glance. A love that is spoken out loud, not because your mate needs to hear the words, but because you want to tell her. She knows that you love her without having you say it a load. But it still all boils down to a look, a look of true love, words are just the icing on the cake, with the little angel on top as the reminder or the certainty of this love.”

Looking up into his face, Buffy could tell Spike was picturing in his mind’s eye that love he had obviously seen once before, giving him dreamy eyes and a slight smile to his face. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile. She could tell how deeply he felt, and she was envious. Her parents had been the furthest opposite. They didn’t need to talk to each other; they didn’t have to tell each other that loved each other, because they didn’t.

Suddenly serious, Spike looked down into Buffy’s face. “Do you know what I mean, Slayer? Have you ever seen that kind of love?”

Buffy shook her head sadly. “No, I never have. I had thought that was what I had with Angel, but I look back know and wonder. It was more of that forbidden love that a sixteen year old idealizes as romantic…Have you ever seen it, that type of love you were describing?”

Spike once again looked her in the eyes for long, long moments. Finally, Spike broke off their gazes before answering her question. “Yes. Yes, I did, once a long time ago. But – let’s save that, luv, for another night.”

Taking Spike’s subtle hint that the conversation would go no further this evening and being unsure herself how much further she wanted to take a conversation about love with Spike, Buffy slowly got up to head for her own bedroom.


Whether it was wise or not, Spike was unable to let her leave so easily. He reached out and caught her trailing hand, turning it palm up to brush the fingertips of his free hand down her palm, finally placing a kiss on the pulse point of her wrist. Buffy felt shivers race up her arms, not cold but sensual. “See you in the morning, luv.”

Looking down at their hands still clasped, Buffy spoke what was on her mind, “Giles always told me that demons don’t feel, that they can’t feel love.”

Spike still held lightly on to her hand, rubbing the pad of his thumb over her sensitive skin. “Maybe the watcher was misinformed. Think about it, luv. Would the Council of Watchers want their killers (that’s you, Slayer) to know that they were destroying beings that had feelings besides hate?” Spike paused to place a sensual kiss on the inside of Buffy’s wrist again. “No thoughts of killing.” He placed a longer kiss on the same spot. “That you were killing beings that had no thoughts of doing any harm.” This time, Buffy felt the tip of his tongue stroke out on her skin as his open mouth contacted her skin, finishing in one of the most sensual kisses Buffy had ever received on that part on her anatomy.

Gazing into his beautiful, blue eyes, Buffy reluctantly pulled her hand back, but the lack of contact did not stopped the trindles of electricity rushing up her arm from his kiss, did not stopping the warm tingle in the pit of her stomach.

“Goodnight, luv.” As his voice rolled over her, Buffy watched entranced as his tongue peeked out long enough to lick his lips. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

“’Night, Spike.” Run, Buffy thought, do not walk, run to the nearest cold shower.


TBC


And to those yelling for the naughty parts, keep your pants on, literally. Those scenes are coming. I promise. It’s just that damn plot that keeps getting in the way …But wouldn’t you rathe be be slow and greatly satisfying than fast and mediocre- the plot, that is. Now the sex is going to be…yummm ; )

But please keep the reviews coming. They really do help me write faster.

MadRog
madrog@ev1.net
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