Part 11

Trisha rolled her eyes as the car passed the ‘Welcome to Sunnydale’ sign. She was not looking forward to living in this town. From what she had been told, the witches who worked for the previous slayer were still in control of the town. She would have to rectify that immediately; she was the slayer and the town was now hers.

As her watcher drove her through town, he pointed out the highlights. The school - where the hellmouth itself sat waiting to be opened, the Magic Box - where reportedly the witches both worked, Willy’s bar - the best place to get information if you had the balls to go in there, and the numerous cemeteries. There were a lot of cemeteries for such a small town.

“This place feels evil, it’s almost like it’s in the air itself.” Trisha shuddered and rolled up her window. John - her watcher, silently agreed. He wasn’t any happier with this assignment than she was. He hated leaving London, and to end up here, in the States… well, it wasn’t pleasant. The only thing that made this situation tolerable was Trisha herself. She had proven the theory that slayers had certain… appetites that needed to be fulfilled.

John remembered the events of the last few days; he was surprised he could stand, he was so worn out. He wondered if all slayers were as rough during sex as his Trisha was. If so, he could see why the previous one had taken a vampire for a lover - strength and stamina. He still found the thought disgusting, but at least now he could see the why of it.

“Trisha, this is the hellmouth, of course it feels evil. Why do you think the demons are drawn to this place? They can feel the power, the evil, the same way you can.” John pulled the car into the driveway of the house that they would share. The council had made all the arrangements ahead of time, purchasing a home in Sunnydale and leasing an old karate school for the slayer to train in.

Inside the house they found the boxes that contained their personal belongings, as well as the books and other items that the council had sent. John sighed and began the tedious job of unpacking. After the energy he had expended the past few days he really just wanted to lay down and rest. He knew, however, that that wasn’t in the cards. They needed to get the house set up and then start Trisha on a training and patrol schedule.

Part 12

“Bloody hell, Xander! Would you just stop for the night and come to bed?” Spike glared at his lover from the doorway of their home. Xander had been working on building a sauna for the past week. He decided it would be a good project to keep himself busy. Spike wasn’t complaining about the work, but he preferred to have company when he went to bed.

“Alright. Just let me wash up and I’ll be in.” Xander smiled as he walked down the hill to the river to wash up. He knew Spike hated to sleep alone now that they were together. The first thing Xander had done after they finally made love was start building a bigger bed for them to share. It had taken him almost a week to do it, and Spike had spent every night that week lying practically on top of him in his small bunk.

At the water’s edge, Xander looked longingly back at the tub and wished he had time for a hot bath instead of a quick wash in the cool river water. It was the one thing he really missed about his former life, indoor plumbing.

Things here were good, though. Better than he had ever thought possible. He had a home - one he had built himself - food and water, recreation, no demons to worry about other than the one in his bed, and Spike.

That was the biggest shock of all. Once he’d given himself over to this new life, he had become happy. He was in love, more in love than he had ever thought possible. More in love than he had been with Anya. That fact had hurt when he first realized it, but then he let it go. He hoped that wherever Anya was, whatever she was doing, she was as happy as he was. The fact that he wasn’t jealous by the thought of her moving on with her life, marrying someone else and having a family made him realize that they would never have made it together.

Xander hadn’t admitted to Spike that he was in love with him. He didn’t know if he ever would. There was a chance that Spike didn’t feel the same way. Sure, he cared about Xander, certainly there was some love involved, but perhaps not the depth of emotion that Xander felt for Spike, or what Spike had felt for Buffy. That was the thought that held him back.

Xander knew without a doubt that if they woke up tomorrow back in Sunnydale, surrounded by their friends and family, he would still love Spike, still be in love with Spike, and not even Anya could change the way he felt. He wasn’t so sure about Spike. What if they did get home? Would he want to forget about what they had together and go back to following Buffy around trying to win her affections? Could Xander take the heartache that would cause him?

These were the reasons why he hoped they were never found. He missed Willow like crazy, and he felt bad for feeling this way but he didn’t want to go back to Sunnydale; as far as he was concerned he was home.

Spike waited impatiently for Xander to return. It wasn’t so much the fact that he hated sleeping alone - which he did - when he could be wrapped around the warm body of his lover instead, it was that he wanted to talk to Xander tonight.

Pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, Spike ran his fingers through his long, wavy blonde hair. It still felt strange; he hadn’t worn his hair long in almost a century. He was used to the feel of well-gelled locks, not the loose curls he wore now. Although Xander’s hair had grown long, as well. Spike liked the look on him; it made him look sexy as hell.

He remembered the way it fell into the boy’s eyes the night they first made love. The way the sweat from his body dampened it and made it cling to his skin. He felt himself harden with the memory of finally being inside of his sweet boy, of feeling his boy’s muscles spasm around his shaft. He could almost hear the sweet sounds of his pleas for ‘faster’ and ‘harder’ and ‘more’. Spike was sure he’d never had anyone respond to him as openly as Xander had done that night. He had been so surprised by the amount of pleasure he was experiencing from the act, as if he expected to not enjoy it.

By the time Xander got back, Spike wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk to Xander about what was bothering him or shag him senseless. In a perfect world, he could do both. He grinned at the thought, because if this wasn’t a perfect world he didn’t know what was.

Xander gasped as he suddenly found his arms full of amorous vampire. He almost fell back under the assault but managed to right himself and keep from falling as the blonde in his arms attacked his throat with lips and tongue. Xander chuckled and squeezed Spike to him tightly. “Miss me, Barney? I wasn’t gone that long, you know.”

“Want you, luv, want to touch you, taste you, hear you scream for me.” Spike kissed Xander with a passion not known to many. Xander could do nothing less than respond in kind. They barely made it to the bedroom, falling onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, hands gripping and caressing silky skin, lips mashed together.

Spike rolled Xander beneath him and ground their erections together. He was pleased by Xander’s enthusiastic response. Always so expressive, his lovely boy was. Spike was desperate to be inside of him, to feel him surrounding him with heat and passion. He loved this boy, his boy, like no one else. He wasn’t sure what the fates had in mind by stranding them here in this place alone together, but he wasn’t about to complain. Not when it had led him to where he was now.

Where he was now, was lying on top of his lovely boy, his hard, leaking shaft just inches from his mouth. Spike nuzzled into the crisp dark hair in front of him, breathing in the scent of his lover, smelling the need and the desperation from the man underneath him. He was just as desperate himself to taste the boy, to feel his hard length as he sucked it into his mouth. To taste the flavor that was uniquely Xander.

Xander arched off the bed as Spike finally, finally took him into his mouth. He was so hard and needy he knew he wasn’t going to last long, not that he cared. He was always ready for more with Spike. He was amazed by his own stamina when they made love. He had never had such a short recovery time in his life. There was just something about Spike that made him hard, made him desperate to touch and be touched. Something that he knew deep in his heart was love.

Spike stilled as Xander spilled his essence into his waiting mouth. He savored the taste of his lover in his mouth before swallowing it down. He lovingly licked up every last trace of his seed until the boy was hard and eager once more. Then and only then did Spike begin to stretch and prepare Xander to take his cock.

The aloe vera plant was the closest thing to lube they had, and would soon need to be replaced. Spike broke off a section and squeezed the gel-like substance onto his fingers. Xander moaned and writhed beneath him as first one and then two fingers breached him. “God, Spike. More, please more. Now, please.”

Three fingers and Spike was already in gameface, he was so far gone. At least this version of his demon face didn’t scare the boy. Although he wasn’t so sure that by this point his old face would have scared him either. Xander knew what he was, he wasn’t fooling himself. Spike removed his fingers to the protestations of the writhing man beneath him. He quickly arranged them so that Xander’s legs were over his shoulders and his cock was poised at his entrance.

“You ready, luv?” The answer was nothing more than a needy whine, but it was enough to tell Spike that he was not alone in his desperation. That Xander was right there with him, hanging on to sanity by a mere thread. As Spike slowly pushed his way into his lover, he was rewarded with an animalistic snarl from the man. “Faster, Spike! Fuck me already!”

Spike sank his balls deeply into Xander and began to piston in and out of him hard and fast. If Xander wanted to be fucked hard, by God that’s what he’d get. One hand on the mattress holding him up and the other fisting Xander’s cock roughly. Spike came with a snarl and lunged for Xander’s neck.

He didn’t bite. He had never bitten Xander in all the time they had been together. But the urge to do so was getting harder and harder to ignore. He wanted to claim Xander as his own, to sink his fangs deeply into his flesh and drink his passion-laced blood. He buried his face in Xander’s neck and breathed in deeply; he could smell the blood just below the surface, the adrenaline and the scent of Xander’s seed.

Spike pulled carefully out of Xander and lowered his legs to the mattress before rolling them both on their sides. He kissed his boy until he was breathless and then reluctantly pulled away. He didn’t get far before Xander’s hand shot out and caught his wrist, tugging him back into bed. “Spike? What’s wrong?”

Spike sighed and snuggled back into Xander’s arms. “Nothing luv. M’fine, really.” He could tell Xander wasn’t buying it but he really didn’t want to talk about it. There was no way Xander felt the same way as he did. He knew that this was just an inevitable occurrence as far as the boy was concerned. Sure he liked him, but there was no way he could love him, not Spike, not a vampire. If they weren’t stranded here, there was no way Xander would even consider being with him.

“Bullshit. I’m not buying it, Spike, something is rattling around in that sun-bleached head of yours and I want to know what it is. Or are you gonna start acting like Angel and go all cryptic on me? ‘Cause I got to tell you, the broody thing? So not a turn-on.” Xander shifted until he was sitting up against the wall, Spike reclining against his chest.

“Just thinking about stuff, luv. That’s all. It’s nothing to worry about. Don’t you ever just think about stuff?” Spike didn’t turn his head to look at Xander so he missed the pained expression that drifted across his face.

“Not while I’m fucking you, I don’t.” Xander hurriedly got out of bed and grabbed his pants - what was left of them anyway. He looked back at Spike and froze.

Spike looked so dejected, head hung low, his hands over his face. He looked like someone who had lost his best friend, or his only friend. Xander sighed and went back to him. “Spike, this isn’t working.”

And there it was. The sentence Spike had been waiting for since this crazy affair of theirs had started. He knew someday Xander would put an end to this, but he hadn’t expected it to be this soon. He was trying so hard not to break down in tears, not to beg for him to give them another chance, that he almost missed the next sentence Xander spoke.

“I wish you would tell me what’s the matter so I can try and fix it. I don’t want to lose what we have.” Xander ran his fingers through his hair and tried to figure out how they had gone from screaming in ecstasy to not speaking in a matter of minutes. He thought that being in a relationship with another man would have eliminated these emotional stresses. Men were supposed to be easy to figure out, but apparently not Spike.

“How do you feel about me, Xander?” The question, spoken so quietly and with such pain, had Xander back on the bed and pulling the unresisting vampire back into his arms. This was a question that he had been dreading. If he answered honestly, he could end up losing Spike, and if he lied he could end up losing Spike. It really depended on how Spike felt about him.

“How honest do you want me to be here, Spike? Do you want me to tell you the way I really feel, that I think - no, that I know I’m in love with you? That I’ve never loved anyone as much as I do you? That it’s going to tear my guts out when you tell you me you don’t feel the same way? Is that what you want to hear, ’cause if you want the truth, that’s what I’ll tell you.”

Anything else Xander might have been about to say was stopped abruptly as a cool, hungry mouth latched onto his. He was pulled into a fierce grip and his mouth was plundered possessively. He finally had to fight his way free to draw in much-needed oxygen. That was when he noticed that Spike was staring at him, golden eyes looking at him with such emotion that it made his chest tighten. “I love you too, Xander. I love you too.”

And then they were kissing again, and this time it was slow and sweet, about love and acceptance, heart and home. And when Spike entered Xander this time, it was with a purpose, with a goal in mind other than mutual pleasure. He was going to claim him, finally make him his.

“Gonna claim you Xander, make you mine.” Xander shuddered under the onslaught of feeling. He was overjoyed, ecstatic that Spike loved him as well, that he wasn’t going to lose what they had found together. When he felt the sharp prick of fangs at his throat he turned his head and sighed in bliss. “God, Spike. Love you, love you so much.”

Part 13

Willow looked up from her textbook when she heard her lover squeal. It wasn’t something that Tara did very often, usually being quite soft-spoken and quiet. “Tara?”

“I found something! A spell to see them, to see Xander and Spike! It - it won’t help us get them back, but we would at least know if they’re okay.” Tara was practically bouncing she was so excited. After six months of running into dead ends and growing increasingly worried and frustrated this was like a gift from the Goddess herself.

Willow rushed over to where Tara was sitting and took the book from her hands. She read and reread the spell before smiling so widely that her face hurt. “Oh my Goddess, Tara. I’ll be able to see if they’re okay. We need to do this now, as soon as we can.” Willow put down the book and ran for the bedroom, Tara right behind her.

“Honey, we need to order some of those ingredients. We don’t keep them in stock at the store.”

Willow turned around and faced her girlfriend as she continued to hop on one foot while putting on her jeans. “I know that, but we can special order them tonight and they’ll get here that much faster.”

Willow’s enthusiasm was catchy and soon Tara was flying around the room as well trying to get changed as quickly as possible so they could head out.

The drive over to the Magic Box was filled with enthusiastic conversation. Willow was so excited by the idea of finally knowing that Xander was okay, Tara had to drive.

After e-mailing the rush order to their suppliers, the two girls were headed back to their - well Xander’s - car when they were approached by a tall, pale-skinned, floppy-eared demon. As the girls automatically clasped hands and began to draw power for a spell the demon stepped back and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

“Oh, hey. I don’t want any trouble. I - I’m a friend of Spike’s.” Tara and Willow looked at each other and then at the demon. Willow gestured for him to continue but they didn’t let go of the other’s hand. “I know that Spike used to help the slayer and the rest of you, and well… I was hoping you could tell me what happened to him? See, we usually play poker once or twice a week and he hasn’t shown up for the longest time…”

The demon actually looked sort of sad, Willow couldn’t help but feel bad for him. She was missing her friend too. “Um, well… Do you know what was going on about six months ago?” The demon nodded and Willow continued. “Well, Spike sort of… got sucked into a portal. With Xander. We’ve been looking for a way to bring them home.”

“Oh, okay. Well um, I’m Clem by the way. If there’s anything I can do, you know, let me know. Spike’s a bit rough around the edges but he’s my friend. If I can help I will.”

Willow looked at the demon and then smiled. “Thank you Clem. I’ll let you know.” As Clem walked away, Willow and Tara were just about to go to the car when Trisha and John showed up.

The slayer grimaced in distaste at the two girls. “I knew I was right not to trust you. Standing out here in the street making conversation with demons. Disgusting.” She actually turned up her nose at the two flabbergasted girls. Her watcher merely smirked and made a mental note to get all the available information on these two that the council could dig up. He knew that the demon he had just seen was basically harmless, but he still didn’t trust the two witches.

“Come along Trisha, if we hurry you might just catch up with the demon before it gets away.” John turned his back and headed off in the direction that Clem had taken. Trisha took a second to sneer at the girls before joining him.

Willow turned to her girlfriend, a look of utter bewilderment on her face. “What do we do? I mean, he’s a demon right? But he seemed… nice. We can’t just let her kill him, can we?”

Tara shook her head. She knew that not all demons were bad, and this one had seemed pretty friendly, harmless even. “No we can’t.”

Clem stopped dead in his tracks as he felt the presence of the slayer. He had never met Buffy, but from what Spike had told him, she was pretty fair. He raised his hands in defense and turned around, hoping to talk her out of slaying him like he had with the two witches a few minutes earlier. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t Buffy standing behind him.

Clem groaned internally at him misfortune. He knew the other slayer - Faith - was insane. She wouldn’t care if he sprouted wings and a halo; she would still kill him. He was so screwed. He tried his most charming smile and waved one of his floppy hands at her. “Hey, you must be Faith, huh? Nice to meet you.”

Willow and Tara caught up just as Trisha was about to attack. They grasped hands and before Trisha knew what was happening, the demon in front of her disappeared. She spun around angrily and glared at Willow and Tara. “See? I knew you were both evil, saving demons. I don’t know what kind of spell you put on the last slayer, but it won’t work on me. You just stay the hell away from me!”

Before Willow got a chance to respond, the girl had grabbed her watcher and they both hightailed it out of sight. Willow sighed in frustration and headed back toward the car. Tara sympathized, she knew how much Willow wanted to help protect Sunnydale; she felt she owed it to Buffy, to Giles, to Xander and Spike. “Um, sweetie? Where exactly did you send Clem?”

Part 14

“God, it is good to be home!” Xander flung himself down on the bed and groaned as Spike settled himself on top of him. He wrapped his arms around his lover and sighed in contentment.

“Well, if I remember correctly, it was your idea to go away in the first place. ‘Let’s go explore, Spike. See what else is out there, Spike.’ I was perfectly happy right here.” Spike buried his face in Xander’s neck and began sucking lightly on the salty tasting skin. He really hadn’t minded the impromptu trip; he just enjoyed giving Xander a hard time about things. Speaking of which…

“Spiiiike, you have got to be kidding me. I’m exhausted.” Xander whined as he felt Spike grind into him. One thing was certain, no matter how tired he might be, his body always responded to Spike’s attempts to seduce him. He felt the vampire chuckle against his neck, right before he felt twin pricks of pleasure/pain. For some reason, having Spike bite him always got him hot.

“Not that exhausted, luv. Come on, we’ll shag and then you can take a nap while I heat up the bath, okay?” That would practically guarantee him acquiescence. Xander had done nothing the past month but bitch about how he missed the tub. He knew his boy would do anything for a hot bath. “Just lie back and let me take care of everything.”

Just laying back and letting Spike do all the work sounded like something Xander could do. As he felt Spike’s hands begin stroking his skin he moaned in approval, oh yeah this was definitely a good idea. Sleep could wait - at least for a little while.

Spike smiled as he felt Xander surrender to his touch. He was always so open, so responsive. He could see now, why Anya had fallen for this man. A demon - whether she was without her power or not, she was at heart, still a demon - who had spent over a thousand years dishing out punishment and torture to millions of men, had fallen in love with this puppy-eyed mortal. Spike didn’t understand it, not until he found himself in the position of having Xander’s love and attention.

Now, now he understood what had changed Anya’s opinion. Xander wasn’t just a good guy; he was more than that. He loved completely, gave everything he had to the one he loved and more. There was nothing about Spike that Xander didn’t accept. Not his demon, not his blood lust, not his history of viciousness. He accepted that that’s who Spike was, who he had been in the past. He also accepted Spike the way he was now, without all the fronts and bravado. He could be himself - the bookish, soft-spoken man he once was, as well as the Big Bad Master Vampire he had become.

Spike was brought back from his thoughts by a particularly unmanly squeal from his lover. While Spike’s mind had been occupied, his hands had been moving on autopilot. He grinned and began to pay attention once again to making Xander squirm; it was his favorite pastime after all.

Spike knew all the right places to touch, where to lick, suck, nibble and stroke to reduce Xander to a mass of needy whimpering flesh beneath his skillful hands. Not that Xander ever complained, especially when he did that thing with his tongue.

Xander lay flat on his back, his feet planted on the blonde’s shoulders as Spike took his time stretching and relaxing his guardian ring with his tongue. He was sure he could cum just from this sensation alone, and would if Spike didn’t have one hand wrapped firmly around his swollen cock, preventing his orgasm.

“Spiiiike, please.” The vampire relented on his torture, and moved into position. He claimed Xander’s lips as he slowly sheathed himself inside the hot body of his lovely boy. No matter how many times he had done this, it always felt like the first time. Xander was warm and real and alive around him, holding him, pulling him close, closer than he ever thought possible. Spike was forever ruined for others of his kind; he would never be able to tolerate a cold body ever again.

Spike moved slowly within Xander, wanting to draw this out, make it last forever. He couldn’t, it wasn’t possible, not with the boy moaning his name and thrusting up toward him on every stroke. Difficult to hold back as his teeth elongated and his blue eyes bled to yellow. Impossible to prolong the moment when Xander tilted his head back and offered his throat with a breathy “Fuck, yesss. Do it.”

Part 15

The Magic Box was closed for the night. Three people - well, two witches and one demon sat around reading through the newest batch of spell books Willow had ordered. They were all searching for a way to locate Xander and Spike so they could bring them home.

Clem had become a good friend to the witches; he had a lot of contacts in the demon community and was able to get books and scrolls that otherwise would have been impossible. Willow still couldn’t understand how such a gentle being as Clem could be friends with such a brash vampire as Spike. Then again, she never understood how Xander had dated Cordelia, either.

“Hey, I think I found something.” Clem held up his book and Willow came around the table to look at it. She read the passage several times, her Sumerian being a bit rusty, but she was pretty sure that with this spell they could open a portal to Xander and Spike.

“I think you’re right. Oh my God! If this works, we can bring Xander home!” Willow was smiling so hard it looked like her face would split. Tara looked over the book and frowned when she came to one of the spell ingredients. This might work, but it wasn’t going to be easy getting what they needed.

“Sweetie? You do realize we need the blood of the slayer for this to work, right?” Tara chewed her bottom lip as she watched her lover’s face harden. Sweet Willow had just been replaced with determined Willow. She wouldn’t want to be Trisha when faced with this version of her usually sweet girlfriend.

“I know. And one way or another, I’ll get it.” Clem looked up from his chair at Willow and was awed by the power and fierce determination he could sense in her. This was not a girl to mess with; he was glad they were friends. He could understand why Spike had allied himself with these humans; they were fiercely loyal to those they considered friends.

“Um, not to sound like a bad guy here, but I could probably get some of my poker buddies to help out on that front. You know, rough her up a bit, make her bleed.” Even for a demon, Clem sounded apologetic for making the suggestion. Willow just couldn’t understand how a demon got to be as sweet as Clem.

“Thanks, but we’ll handle that part ourselves. I’m actually looking forward to it.” And there was scary Willow. Tara wondered how many of her girlfriend’s alter-egos were going to make an appearance tonight.

“Er, okay. I need to get shuffling off, now. Meeting a couple of Vergishtas for a game of gin later.” Clem smiled and stood up. Tara walked him to the door and smiled at him. She knew the real reason Clem was leaving. Willow was scary when she got like this.

“Thanks again for all your help. We’ll be sure to let you know when we have everything ready. I assume you want to be here to see Spike when we do the spell?” Tara was watching Clem with a hint of a smile on her face. She was pretty sure the floppy-skinned demon’s interest in Spike was more than just a passing acquaintance. It was sort of sad really, seeing as how Spike and Xander were together. She liked Clem and didn’t want to see him get hurt.

“Oh, yeah. That’d be good. Maybe I’ll see you before that, though. You never know.” Clem hugged Tara tentatively and smiled when she hugged back. She was such a sweet girl.

After locking up again, Tara went back to Willow; she wanted to make sure her lover didn’t do anything she’d regret later. And killing or even maiming Trisha was something that - eventually - she would regret.

“Why don’t we go home. We found the spell and there’s no way we can get everything we need tonight, so let’s get some rest, okay?” Tara gently pried Willow away from the books and led her to a chair; she then quickly straightened up the shop so it would be presentable for business the next day.

Once they were in the car and on their way home, Willow suddenly squeaked in delight, almost causing Tara to run off the road. “Ooops. Sorry, sweetie. I just remembered the letter Dawn wrote. She said that Faith wanted to make things up to me, that she’s trying to redeem herself. If she helps me bring Xander and Spike home I’ll forgive her for anything.”

“But isn’t she in L.A.? In prison?” Tara worried her bottom lip with her teeth as she saw a spark flare in her lover’s eyes.

“Yeah, but that’s nothing I can’t get around.” Willow smiled as she thought of several spells she could cast to break Faith out of prison, or even better, break herself in so she could get the blood she needed and then get out. Yes that was definitely a better idea.