Love In Vein: Book Two - Chapter 20

The boxes of books at her feet had Buffy yawning. When back at her house she hadn't thought of the amount of physical work required in setting up the Magic Box and getting ready for the grand opening at the weekend. She also hadn't thought about how boring it would be. Her and books were not the best of friends as it was and even Slayers got tired when they had to stack shelves all afternoon.

Buffy snuck a glance over at Spike where he sat on the steps that led to what Giles had termed the 'restricted section'. She surmised that Willow would love to go up there, the dusty volumes were potentially dangerous in the wrong hands, full of information on deadly witchcraft and black arts. Looking at her mate as he stared at his hands, she suddenly wished she could get away with what he was doing.

Nothing.

When they had walked into the shop she'd offered immediately to help and Spike had just silently walked to the steps and watched the rest of them working. About an hour ago, she'd come to the conclusion that he saw her friends as beneath him, like they were now his new set of minions and only she was his equal.

Or at least her and Willow.

She smiled as she thought about how he really seemed to like her best friend and that his little show of concern down the Bronze had been almost like him taking her under his wing.

Buffy frowned as she realised what he was doing.

He wasn't just staring at his hands with a bored expression on his face.

He was picking at his nails, chipping away at the perfect polish that adorned each one and making them messy again. Buffy pouted as she watched him and wondered why he was doing it. Something said that it wasn't just boredom motivating his actions and that he'd been serious about her painting his nails too neatly. She wondered for a moment if he did this each time that he painted them, if he intentionally roughed them up in order to make it look manly.

Or as manly as painting your nails can be.

She sighed and shook her head as she turned her attention back to placing the books on the shelves. Looking over her shoulder, she found Xander watching Anya as she had a lesson about proper till use. Buffy had been stunned on arriving to find that Anya had offered what skills she had to Giles and was going to be working along side him to run the shop. She had pictured Spike doing the same and then giggled quietly to herself as she realised he'd never do such a thing. He wasn't one for working, he was like her--he was a leader. He was the one who plotted and told the others what to do, he was the one who made the arrangements and executed the plan.

Although they'd failed most of the time.

She wondered if his plan to get the Gem of Amara would have failed had she not been captured. How differently would things have been for them both? Buffy felt a chill run up her spine as instinct told her he would have succeeded. She hadn't known he was in town and he had clearly been intending on keeping it a secret until it was too late.

There was a part of her that used to wonder if he would have acted the way he had without the claim, but now she knew better. His talk with her about the bond between them had made it clear in her mind that it was just that, a bond and nothing more. Her emotions were her own, not placed in her by something else, but naturally developed over a period of time.

She smiled whimsically as she thought of all the times past when they had encountered each other and fought, only to part again, uninjured but not unchanged. Each time she'd met him in the field he'd stirred something in her, and now she knew she'd done the same to him.

"Want to dance, love?" A voice purred into her head and her smile widened as she ran her fingers along the spines of the books.

"Always, with you…" Buffy replied and closed her eyes as she felt her Slayer side awaken fully as thoughts of their previous fights filled her mind.

"Just say the word, we'll see who lands on top."

Buffy exhaled in a sigh as the familiar ache in her stomach gave her warning of his intent, both the fighting and the implied. She turned slightly and gave him a small knowing smile as her eyes locked with his.

Xander watched the exchange of glances between Buffy and Spike, and then settled his eyes back on Anya. It was nice to see her starting to fit in with the group, her effort seemed to be paying off and part of him was happy she was being accepted. His eyes were drawn back to Buffy where she was stacking the shelves and from there, he looked at Spike briefly.

It hit him like a lead weight in his stomach that what he was experiencing in seeing Anya becoming a part of the team was what Buffy wanted for Spike, but was never going to achieve.

And why?

Because he wasn't letting him fit in. He was intentionally going out of his way to see him remain outside the group, to keep him at arms length.

Hypocrite.

It was the word that summed him up.

He was watching Anya with the proud air of a father because she had been welcomed with open arms into the group and yet he was forcibly stopping another from receiving the same. He felt the lead weight sink further and reach the pit of his stomach; it settled there and taunted him.

He'd fallen for an ex-demon, an ex-vengeance demon of all demons, and it had seemed perfectly reasonable that the group should accept her with no questions asked. Granted she had a way with words that left much to be desired and had a tendency to mention the horrific things she had done in her past, but he'd still expected her to be allowed to just slot in neatly like she was always there.

Looking over at Buffy, he felt the pang of guilt inside him worsen as he caught her looking at Spike with what was almost a longing expression.

He had fallen for an ex-demon as badly as she had fallen for a fully-fledged one. One that had done things in his past but never mentioned them, one that didn't ask to be accepted into the group without proving he was worthy and one that knew when to keep quiet.

Most of all, one that could be a benefit to the group.

With him, he brought the experience that came with being a century old, and the ability to protect Buffy. Spike had the powers she needed in order to have good back up, and he had proved that he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

He'd willingly helped her with the Angel situation, and only this morning he'd gone with them to try to track down Oz--no questions asked.

Anya had complained all the way.

Swallowing the bitter pill that was the realisation that he had no right to judge Buffy and attempt to exclude Spike was hard. It lodged in his throat and no matter how he tried to get his thoughts back to the idle perusing of his girlfriend he couldn't.

He sighed as he looked at Buffy still.

She was moving around the room, giving furtive glances to Spike that he occasionally returned.

Buffy hadn't presumed they would accept Spike, like he'd presumed they would accept Anya. She had worked at trying to make him part of the group and, on more than one occasion, had asked them to give him the time to prove he was worthy and wouldn't hurt them.

It was only himself standing between Spike and the group now.

Giles had quietly accepted him even after the vampire's outburst, Anya wasn't bothered by his presence in the least and Willow seemed to like him, a lot.

And Buffy?

He watched her as she looked over at Spike again and the vampire raised his head to look at her, smiling wide as he did so. Her look turned tender, almost adoring and Xander felt his resolve melt away.

Buffy loved him.

Xander followed her progress as she moved through the room and when he found her near him, he swallowed the pill and took a step towards her.

"Hey." Xander's voice was as shaky as his hands as he found green eyes settling on his.

"Hey." Buffy said softly and looked down again as she rummaged through the box. "Nice to see Anya finding her niche."

Xander chuckled. "Yeah, she seems to like the money."

Buffy smiled wide and giggled. "Spike says she's cash randy."

"When?"

"Just now…" She said idly without a thought to the confusion on Xander's face. She caught it and grinned. "Telepathically…he also tells me to kick your 'arse' if you try anything."

Xander swallowed noisily and glanced over at Spike where he was watching them intently.

"You two seem pretty serious about each other." Buffy nodded towards Anya.

Xander saw his opportunity and seized it. "So do you two."

Buffy gave him a slight smile and looked over her shoulder at her mate. "Yeah."

"He looks like he needs a little shot of Buffy…the brooding look doesn't suit him." Xander tried a wide smile but it came off a little wonky with nerves.

Buffy giggled. "He's just…having a hard time…not easy coming into a whole new world, a world you tried to destroy several times. He's getting there, might be a while longer before he comes to term with it all, but…" She raised her eyes to meet Xander's and pulled her courage up from her feet to her stomach. "When it's just me and him it's all so different…he's sensitive, loving…possessive…I feel safe with him. It's being around people he doesn't know that's making him act this way. I don't think he means to be distant. Just, look at what he is, he isn't meant to be sitting in this room with us, this isn't in his nature."

"And yet he's here…" Xander said and realised it might have sounded a little anti-Spike. "I mean, he's trying, making the effort. More effort than some of us."

Buffy caught his meaning and gave him a true smile. "I'm not asking that you accept him straight away, just that you give him the chance and think about it."

"I thought about it. He's good for you. I've never seen you so happy, not with Angel, not with anyone." Xander looked at Spike and found him staring in his direction. "Does he have to do that…go…be with him…before he gets all grr."

Buffy laughed as she put the box on the table and shook her head as she walked over to Spike. His eyes seemed to make her skin hot and flushed as he watched her approaching him, they roamed over her body and she found herself thinking about what he'd mentioned earlier.

Spike rested his palms on his knees as she stopped in front of him, her body leaning in close to his as she bought her lips up to his ear.

"Up for a little rough and tumble, baby?" Buffy purred in silken tones down his ear and felt the low rumbling growl in his chest.

Turning on her heel she walked around the steps and over to the back door that led to the training room. Spike hopped down off his perch and followed her, his eyes fixed on her hips as she lured him into the room.


Spike slipped the ring off his finger as her eyes fell to rest on him. Undoing the chain around his neck, he placed the ring onto it and did it up again. He flexed his fingers as he watched her tying her hair into a tight ponytail and removing her shirt to reveal a little strappy blue top.

Buffy licked her lips as he removed his red shirt so he stood before her in his tight black t-shirt and jeans. Her eyes traversed his body, taking in his strong arms and the way she could see his muscles through his top. She felt a girly rush of adrenaline as she remembered how delicious he'd looked naked and it only spurred on her desire to fight him, to see those muscles in action as they sparred.

She smiled at the ring around his neck as she limbered up, her eyes fixed on it all the while. He'd taken it off when making love to her so he would just be himself, not enhanced by the power the ring gave him and she'd found that sweet. Now he'd taken it off in order to give her a fair fight and that just made her feel like grabbing hold of him and kissing him for being so thoughtful.

As his signature registered in her stomach, she felt her Slayer side kick in and nerves seemed to come with it.

This was the first time they had fought since being together and part of her feared the damage he could do.

A tiny part of her was scared that this wouldn't be a game, that he'd been waiting for this moment to slip in and kill her.

Spike frowned as he felt her nerves go off the scale and he caught the wary look in her eyes. The thought that she was scared of him trying something surfaced in his mind, and he frowned as he searched the room for something to show she could trust him and he trusted her.

Buffy looked incredulous as Spike picked up one of the stakes that were laying idle on the back table and walked over to her. As he placed it into her hands, she raised her eyes up to his and gave him a questioning frown.

"Now, if I do something that you'd have to hunt me down and plunge something wooden and pointy into my chest for, you have the right tool for the job." He could still see the disbelief in her eyes that he had handed her the opportunity to dust him in the hopes that it would reassure her. She swallowed hard and looked at the wooden stake before wrapping her fingers around it and bouncing on the spot.

"I secretly think this is a thing of yours…you're hoping that I come out on top. Tell me, do you fantasise about me and a stake…making you do things to me at stake point?" She let her tongue sweep over her upper lip as he growled low in his throat. She could feel the desire burning through his veins and it fuelled her own. "Come on, Frodo."

Spike grinned and set his sights on her as they faced off, circling each other slowly as they weighed up the situation and planned their first move.

Review This Story/Chapter!

It only takes a minute to send me feedback, but it makes my whole day. Simply fill in the form below: