Love In Vein: Book Two - Chapter 14

Spike screwed his face up in frustration as the phone rang, the tinny chirruping cutting through the only pleasant dream he'd had in what seemed like forever. Groaning over being so rudely awoken, he tried to keep a grasp on the threads of his dream so he could continue it once he'd dozed off again, but they slipped through his fingers like ribbons.

The ringing stopped.

Spike relaxed back into the couch and tried to draw the tiny bit of sleep he'd managed to hold onto back to him.

"Mom?"

He cringed as Buffy's voice echoed in his ears. He could almost locate her in the house by the way it sounded, close by but distant at the same time.

She was standing at the bottom of the stairs, probably leaning against the banisters with one hand on it as she called up to her mother.

Any chance of falling to sleep again drifted away and he resigned himself to having to wake.

He smiled internally as he heard footsteps heading towards him and remained motionless on the couch. Reaching out with his senses it was as though he could make out her physical form in the darkness of his closed eyes. Her outline seemed to glow against the backdrop of black. He could see the faint shapes of objects in the room and her bright shape moving amongst them.

As she stopped in front of him, he remained stretched out on his back and looking like he was still deep asleep. The sweet scent of her perfume pervaded his senses and he found himself thinking it was a smell that he never wanted to forget; he wanted to imprint it on his memory so he would always be able to remember her by it.

Always.

There was another word for that.

Eternity.

Something he held in his grasp and she didn't.

He could feel her nearby, her steady heartbeat and soft breathing the only sounds in his ears.

The same steady heartbeat that would one day falter and stop.

And he'd be alone.

Again.

He knew what being the Slayer meant, a short and brutal life with no reward at the end of it. No one saw what you did for the world and when you passed on no one knew you were gone. Another took your place, given the same powers as you and placed firmly in your stead.

The world continued to spin.

People went about their lives.

And all you had was a thankless death.

A pointless death.

He was damned if he was going to let that happen. If he couldn't stop her dying, then he would carry her memory with him forever and let the world see just what she sacrificed for it. No, he wouldn't let it get that far, he could protect her from death if she'd let him.

Spike swallowed down the lump of emotions that had constricted his throat. The last thing he needed was for Buffy to be picking up on these feelings; she had enough hard times behind her and enough fights in front of her without having to deal with what was going through his mind.

He frowned as something jolted his ribs.

Arching a brow, he opened his eyes and found Buffy grinning mischievously at him.

"Sleepy head." She gave him a playful look but he could see in her eyes that she had known he'd been awake and she'd felt his despair.

"It's day out, love…vampire, remember?" Spike stretched and then pulled a face of discomfort as she sat down on his legs.

"Yeah, but mom would like her living room back at some point today…humans, remember? We who like day time and generally move around during it?" Buffy gave him another playful look and bounced slightly on his thighs. "Move it mister."

"Would love to…only there's a big lump of Slayerness sitting on me." Spike grinned at her and pushed his pelvis up.

Buffy's eyes widened and she stood up sharply, smoothing her clothes down as she gave him a black look. "You said I was slim…perfect…"

"And you are, kitten…" Spike gave her a wide smile as he stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up as though she was light as a feather. "…Perfect as punch."

Buffy squealed slightly as he span around with her. She grasped hold of his shoulders and erupted into a fit of giggles as he continued to twirl around on the spot.

The phone rang.

Spike stopped dead and glared at it. "Anyone mind shutting that infernal contraption up? Ruined a perfectly, perfect dream of mine earlier."

Buffy slipped down to the floor and peeled Spike's hands off her. Grabbing hold of the receiver, she gave Spike a wide, warm smile before bringing it to her ear.

"Summers' residence." Buffy chirped down the phone as Spike cocked his head to one side, his eyes narrowing tenderly on her and his lips curling into a sweet smile. She almost sighed over how he managed to convey so much warm affection in so small a gesture.

She was thankful she hadn't.

"Buffy?" Angel's voice drifted to her ear and she frowned at the way it seemed to push all the tender emotions from her body and let a coldness settle in their wake.

"Angel." Buffy whispered and gave a fearful glance at Spike. His gentle look had been replaced with one of hatred so strong that she could almost feel it in him without reaching out and sensing it.

"Just reporting in." He said breezily and Buffy knew it was more than that--he was just checking in on her.

"I see…" Buffy tried to hide the note of suspicion in her voice and watched as Spike moved closer to her, like her talking to Angel over the phone was just as bad as talking to him face to face.

"I have a lead." Angel started. "I'm not sure what it is…there's something going down and we're going to look into it."

"Good." Buffy said flatly and listened to the silence at the end of the line. She looked over at Spike and risked a smile at him.

Spike flashed her a brief smile as the tight feeling in his stomach dissipated. He walked past her and trailed his hand across her backside as he moved towards the kitchen.

Buffy rolled her eyes closed and let her smile widen as she listened to Spike opening the fridge. It was nice to have him so relaxed while she talked business with Angel, the last thing she needed was Spike being jealous about her talking to him over the phone.

"How are you?" A quiet voice roused her from her thoughts of Spike and she sighed.

"Good…actually." Buffy knit her brows slightly and stared at the table in front of her. "Research has turned up nothing. Well, almost nothing. There was this wicked freaky moment yesterday and even that didn't tell us anything new. We're drawing a complete blank on the First and the prophecy…so…we called them. I called them."

"Called who?"

Buffy closed her eyes as she felt cool hands against her waist. She leaned back into Spike's chest and sighed as all the tenseness melted from her body.

Spike pressed a kiss to her shoulder and let his hands slide around to rest on her stomach.

"The Council. They're coming over to talk with us. Hopefully we can get some information out of them. Spike thinks they know something; he's seen books that looked old enough to contain information on the First and the prophecy. Even if they don't, they're bound to know more than we do." Buffy let a lazy smile creep onto her lips as she felt Spike's fingers running in small circles over the exposed patch of her stomach. Placing her hand over his, she slipped her fingers in between his and held his hand. She smiled as he curled his fingers and held hers tightly in return.

"Like I said, we'll look into this lead that we have and see what else we can turn up. I don't think the guys at Wolfram and Hart are going to appreciate us dropping by but I don't see what other choice we have. We'll let you know if we find something. Our sources are saying they have what we're looking for but I trust them about as far as Cordelia could throw them." Angel paused for a moment and Buffy frowned at the phone--it was like she could feel the atmosphere growing heavier. "Be careful, Buffy."

"I will. You too…I don't like the sound of this Wolfram and Hart…" Buffy trailed off as she felt Spike tense. Turning slowly in his arms she frowned questioningly at him and saw in his eyes that he knew of the people Angel was talking about.

Spike watched her cover the receiver with her hand and lower it away from her ear.

"What?" Buffy hissed at him.

Spike shook his head solemnly. "Not good. Not good at all, pet. This Wolfram and Hart your pretty little peaches is off to see aren't going to take it lightly if he breaks into their offices. They may look like a bloody law firm, but believe me, they're dealing in dark mojo and I'm not talking just the regulation voodoo dolls here. These people protect the baby eating demons, the real nasties that make most of us look like puppies with bad teeth."

The seriousness of Spike's expression sent a cold chill sweeping through Buffy and she held the phone a little tighter. If Angel was heading into Wolfram and Hart, surely he knew who he was dealing with and how difficult it was going to be for him to do.

What if he didn't?

Did she tell him, or did she trust that he would be as wise as Spike and would know what he was up against?

Buffy sighed and bought the phone back to her ear.

"Angel…just keep your eyes open and be careful…I know this Wolfram and Hart come in high on the evil-o-meter so just watch your back." Buffy frowned as Spike backed away from her and disappeared into the kitchen again.

Sighing heavily to herself, she wondered if there was ever going to be a time where she could speak to them both without offending either. That would be nice.

But it seemed that if it happened it would be in the distant future.

The very distant future.

"I'll call you when I have something."

"Same here…bye." Buffy stared blankly at the floor as she waited for Angel to put the phone down. Part of her knew that he wouldn't say goodbye to her, he never did like saying it and she couldn't blame him. What was more final than goodbye?

Placing the phone down, she stared at it for a moment as she considered what she'd thought about. Raising her head, she peered around the doorway and into the kitchen. She could see Spike tapping the work surface impatiently as he waited for his blood to warm up.

No matter what happened.

She'd never say goodbye to him.

She'd never let him go.

As she moved to go to Spike, wanting badly to wrap her arms around him, the phone rang again and this time it was her turn to scowl at it.

She glanced at Spike again and met his eye as he frowned in the direction of the phone. Buffy crooked her finger and he arched a brow at it before starting to walk towards her.

"Hello?" Buffy picked up the phone and cursed herself for sounding so curt.

"Good afternoon to you too, Buffy."

She visibly sagged as Giles greeted her and then beckoned to Spike again as he leaned against the doorframe.

He shook his head in a refusal.

Buffy pouted and tried again. She wanted to feel his arms around her, wanted to wrap him up so tightly in her own that he would know without her saying it that she never wanted to let him go.

"Hi, Giles." Buffy kept her eyes fixed on Spike's.

"I just wanted to ask you if you would meet me at the little coffee shop on Main Street this evening."

Buffy tried to figure out what Giles was up to. She listened hard and could swear it sounded like he was cleaning something; she could hear squeaking like glass being polished.

"The Espresso Pump? Sure…why?" She couldn't help sounding curious about why he was suddenly asking her to meet him in a coffee shop.

"I'm asking everyone to come along…I have a surprise."

Buffy frowned. "I don't like surprises…"

"It's nothing bad, Buffy." Giles almost chuckled and she couldn't believe how much it relieved her. Over her short life, she had grown to hate it when people had said they had a surprise for her--usually it meant she ended up fighting something indestructible or worse.

"Good…I take it everyone includes Spike?" Buffy asked with a hopeful smile and looked over at the man in question. He raised his head to look at her when his name was mentioned.

"Yes. He's actually the one who helped me on this. I'll meet you there at seven."

"Seven it is, Spike and I will be there waiting." Buffy answered and motioned at Spike again. She almost growled when he smiled and shook his head in the negative, refusing to come to her when she called.

"Until later, then."

"Bye, Giles." Buffy smiled into the phone before placing it down and turning on Spike.

She walked over to him and grabbed hold of his black t-shirt as she attempted to pull him towards her. He didn't budge.

Buffy frowned and tried again.

Her effort was rewarded by Spike catching hold of her arm and yanking her to him. She smiled as he wrapped his arms possessively around her and nuzzled her ear. Letting her hands lock behind his head, she closed her eyes and leaned her body flush against his.

"What did Giles want?" Spike placed a series of kisses down her neck as he brushed her hair out of the way.

"Say's he has a surprise…something he wants to show us all. We're to meet him down the Espresso Pump at seven." Buffy slipped her fingers into the short hair on the back of his head and wound it around her fingers as he continued to plant kisses on her throat.

"And I'm required to be there?" Spike pulled back and looked pensive.

"Apparently so…you were this big help about it…how come you didn't know?"

"Don't remember helping him…" Spike frowned and then raised his brows as he ran over his last conversation with him. "…All I did was tell him he'd lost his sense of purpose…"

"Spike!" Buffy slapped his arm playfully and mock frowned at him. "You can't just go around telling people stuff like that…"

"Who says?" Spike grinned as she struggled to answer him. "Besides, it was a harmless bit of fun…and if he's gone ahead and done something about it, that's not a bad thing, right?"

Buffy didn't look convinced. "I suppose…"

Spike patted her backside with another smile and peeled her arms off him. "Now…I'm gonna grab a shower and then we'll get you fed and go see what's got Giles so excitable. Give daddy some sugar…"

Buffy rolled her eyes and went to move into the kitchen. She stopped dead as Spike caught hold of her hand and spun her around to face him. His arms locked tight around her waist and she struggled aimlessly for a few seconds before going still in his embrace.

"I said…give daddy some sugar…" Spike purred and moved his mouth closer to hers.

Buffy pressed her hands against his chest and felt her lips tingling with anticipation. There was something wrong about his words but at the same time, they sent a thrill running through her that made it feel seriously sexy. Granted he was old enough to be her great-great-grandfather, but was there any need for the reminder?

It felt immoral.

Dirty.

He was insinuating there was some kind of depravity going on between them that was akin to incest.

Either that or he just really liked how dirty it sounded.

Buffy stalled as she met his eyes. They were smiling wickedly at her and she felt like she was lost in a sea of sin and lust. She didn't want to be aroused by his words but she didn't seem to be able to stop herself. She wanted to kiss him like he asked, wanted to play along with whatever kinky little fantasy was racing through his mind.

Wanted to let a few of her own come to the surface.

She craned her neck and closed her eyes as her lips met his. She'd been expecting his kiss to be hungry but, if anything, it felt restrained. His mouth moved gently against hers, his lips just brushing and playing against them as though they had all the time in the world and there was no need for hurry.

She slid her hands up over his chest to his shoulders and held onto them as she kissed him back with as much tender affection as he was showing her.

Spike broke the kiss and pecked her on the nose. "That's my baby."

Buffy blushed. There was something about being called his 'baby' that made her stomach heat through and she really felt like she was his and his alone.

Feeling Spike's hands slip from her body, she silently watched him as he stroked her cheek and then, with a genuine smile that she'd come to know as the one he saved for her, turned and walked out of the room.

Buffy placed her hand on her cheek and stared at his retreating back as he headed for the stairs and finally replied to his claim in a whisper.

"I certainly am."

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