After what seemed hours of signing forms at the hospital that said Buffy was leaving against their advice, they had finally allowed Spike to take her home with a prescription for antibiotics and salve for her burns. When Spike and Buffy walked into the mansion, Wesley and Angel stood up from where they had been sitting at the research table.

“Buffy!” Angel exclaimed and started walking towards her.

Spike was on him in a heartbeat. With his arm across Angel’s throat, he shoved the larger vampire back against the nearest wall.

“YOU BLOODY PILLOCK!” Spike screamed at him; his face just inches from Angel’s. “How could you let her wear that thing!?”

“I . . . didn’t . . . know,” Angel choked out past Spike’s grip as he grabbed Spike around the throat to push him off.

Buffy sighed and shook her head. “One day, I’m gonna lock those two in a room and just let them fight it out,” she said to no one in particular.

“I think we should strip ‘em first – nude vampire wrestling,” Faith picked up Buffy's train of thought as she walked in from the kitchen.

“There could be oil involved . . .” Buffy offered.

“Or whipped cream . . .” Faith suggested.

“We could sell tickets . . .” Buffy continued.

“We’d make a ‘bloody fortune’,” Faith laughed, mimicking Spike’s accent.

Buffy laughed. “Do you mind? I’m still a little over-cooked here,” Buffy said, tilting her head towards the two vampires who were still at each other’s throats.

“No prob,” Faith answered as she went over to break them apart. Faith put a hand on each of the vampire’s chests and pried them apart far enough for her to get between them.

“Buffy says back off,” she said to Spike as she stood with her back to Angel, keeping him essentially pinned against the wall.

Spike turned to Buffy, who had walked closer to where they were fighting. “Bloody hell, woman! He tried to KILL you!”

“You don’t know that Spike,” she told him.

“Bloody well do know it. He let you go down there with that God-awful thing ‘round your neck, knowing what would happen,” Spike argued.

“Spike, I swear, I didn’t know what it would do!” Angel protested from behind Faith. “Do you think I would have ever let her wear it if I did? You? Definitely. Not Buffy.”

“You bloody son of a bitch! Will you never stop!?” Spike started back towards Angel, trying to get past Faith.

“Spike! Stop!” Buffy exclaimed. “THAT’S ENOUGH!” she yelled louder as she stepped up and put a hand on his arm. Instinctively, he swung his arm out to get her off, hitting Buffy in the face and knocking her to the floor.

“Oh!” she exclaimed as she hit, rolling into a ball on the floor and writhing from the pain that emanated from the burn on her chest. She closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing through it.

“Buffy! God, I’m sorry!” Spike was down next to her. He laid his good hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.

Buffy took a deep breath to steady herself and sat up. “Ok – I’m ok. Just . . . just please stop. I don’t think Angel knew.” She met Spike’s eyes with hers. “Just let it go,” she implored him.

Spike clenched his jaw and nodded before helping her back to her feet.

“I’m just gonna go . . .” Angel said as he stepped out from behind Faith.

“Best bloody idea I’ve heard all day,” Spike said under his breath.

Buffy ignored him and stepped towards Angel. “Thanks for your help,” she told him with a small smile.

“I really didn’t know, Buffy,” Angel assured her before walking towards the door and out of the mansion.

**~**

One week later: February 13^th, 2003:

“Crap,” Buffy said to herself as she studied the map in her lap with the flashlight.

Spike rolled his eyes, took his foot off the accelerator and began to slow the Desoto down.

“What now?” he asked as he pulled off to the side of the road.

“I think we missed the turn,” Buffy said sheepishly.

“Do tell!” Spike said, agitated.

“Just turn around,” Buffy said, exasperated.

“You do know how to read a bloody map, don’ ya’, luv?” Spike asked as he wheeled the car around.

“YES! I know how to read a bloody map!” she countered. “If I could see the bloody road signs through the bloody paint on the bloody windshield it would bloody help!”

“I don’t understand why you can’t get some of that necro-tempered glass like Angel has,” she said as she rubbed a bigger spot in the paint on the windshield.

“That’s for poofsters,” he said. “Now, where do you want me to turn?”

They’d been driving, off and on, for two days. They were headed up to the Coven’s safe house in the Northwest Territory in Canada. Buffy wanted to meet the Potentials that were there and have a little vacation with Annie, who was still there with Anya and Xander.

Their wounds from the battle with the Turok-Han from the previous week had nearly healed, although they both had bright red, fairly nasty looking scars from the burns they’d gotten from the amulet – Spike on his hand and Buffy on her chest. A couple of missed turns along the way had made the trip longer than it should have been and gotten them both tense. They wanted to get to the Coven by morning so they wouldn’t miss Annie’s birthday, and spending extra time back tracking wasn't helping.

“There!” Buffy said, pointing, as they came back into Edmonton. “Highway 35 – turn there – north.”

Buffy sighed in relief. “Now, just stay on this road. When it changes names to Highway one, then go another fifty miles and we’ll be there.

“Wake me up when you get tired and I’ll drive some,” she said, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the seat.

Spike sighed and rolled his eyes. He put his arm out and pulled her to him so her head was resting on his shoulder. She snuggled against him, slid down and laid her head on his thigh. Closing her eyes, she pulled her legs up onto the seat and before long she’d fallen asleep as he stroked her hair with one hand and drove with the other.

**~**

“BLOODY HELL!” Spike yelled as he brought both hands to the wheel and swerved to miss hitting the man that suddenly stepped out into the road in front of them. The car slid on the icy road, turning in circles before coming to stop in a snow bank.

Buffy was thrown onto the floor and was trying to figure out where she was and what was going on when the passenger door was suddenly flung open, sending a blast of cold air into the car.

“Time for our date, girlie,” said the man as he grabbed Buffy’s ankles and dragged her from the car. Buffy, now fully awake, kicked him off and scrambled to her feet as Spike cut the engine and slid across the seat and out into the snow behind her.

“Who the hell are you?” Buffy asked, fists ready to strike. She looked the man over. He was dressed like a priest or a minister, but didn’t much act like one.

“Well, you’d be very close on that, girlie. You can call me Caleb – but you needn’t worry about that much longer,” the preacher told her.

“Yeah, why’s that?” Buffy asked as she moved cautiously out onto the road where the snow had been cleared, keeping her eye on Caleb the whole time.

“Because whores and their nasty demon lovers don’t live long around me,” Caleb told her.

“If I had a dollar for every time some smart ass told me they were gonna kill me . . .” Buffy mused as she continued to move towards the center of the deserted highway. As she moved away from the car, Spike jumped back into it.

“Yellow-bellied demon! You just can’t trust ‘em, girlie. 'Course, long as he fucks you like a whore, I reckon that's all you filthy girls care about; fillin' your gaping maw with demon seed.” Caleb informed her.

“Yeah, well, you just can’t get good help these days . . . and a good fuck's even harder to find,” Buffy said as she continued to move, pulling Caleb’s attention away from Spike and the car.

“I have to give you some credit, though. Sending the whores-to-be up here has been problematical. None of the others thought of that. It took me forever to find the bitches. But don’t worry, they can’t stay in there forever. I’ll be waiting for them when they come out . . . them and your demon spawn,” Caleb said, his voice conversational.

“It was Willow’s idea,” Buffy informed him before adding, “What others?”

“I’ll have to remember to thank that un-natural whore witch properly, just as soon as I’m done here,” Caleb said – ignoring her question.

Spike had retrieved Buffy’s scythe and a broad sword from under the back seat of the Desoto where he’d hidden them and was standing behind Caleb now. He set the broad sword down silently and, holding the scythe with both hands, he swung it at the preacher’s neck. Caleb’s head was severed cleanly from his shoulders and rolled unceremoniously down the frozen highway before coming to a stop in a snow bank.

Buffy frowned. “Well, that wasn’t much of a date . . . no movie, no flowers . . . where's the romance gone?”

“Who the fuck was that – what about a date?” Spike looked at her with confusion.

“Well, I made a date with The First . . . you know, nothing specific – he didn’t promise me wine and roses or anything.” Buffy shrugged. “I guess this was another one of its lackeys. What do you think he meant about ‘the others’?”

“Fuck knows,” Spike said, picking up the broadsword and swinging the scythe back and forth through the snow bank to get the blood off.

“Let’s go, we’re almost there,” he said, as he got back in the car and stowed the weapons in their hiding place under the back seat.

**~**

Buffy gasped when they came around a bend in the driveway and the Coven’s “safe house” came into view. “Wow! They don’t make safe houses like they used to,” she commented taking in the massive log cabin that spread out in front of them. The sun was just starting to light the night sky, but the cabin seemed to glow from within as it rose up like a beacon from the rugged terrain. “Now I know why Xander didn’t want to come home,” Buffy muttered to herself as Spike pulled the car up near the front entrance of the magically concealed safe house.

Inside, Buffy and Spike dropped their bags in the entry way and looked around. As massive as the cabin was, the interior was surprisingly cozy and comfortable, with numerous fireplaces and natural wood and stone on the walls, floors, and ceilings. Large windows offered a view of the lake at the back of the cabin and Buffy walked up to it for a better look. There was a large, open deck with a stairway leading down to the lake behind the house and she could see a couple of small boats moored to a dock that jutted out into the water.

“Remind me to volunteer for this part of the mission next time,” she said to Spike, who had walked up behind her. “I’m tired of dark, smelly caves with fire and brimstone and creatures that want to eat you.”

Spike leaned down so his mouth was next to her ear and whispered, “I’d agree with the fire part, luv, but I’d have to insist on keeping the part about eating you.” Spike made a circle with his tongue on the skin behind her ear before trailing it down her neck to her shoulder, where he was stopped from going further by her sweat shirt, so he started back up. Buffy closed her eyes, tilted her head and moaned as his wet tongue trailed fire up and down her neck.

“So, I see you found the place alright,” Xander called from behind them. Buffy and Spike both jumped and spun around, neither having heard him approach.

“Christ, Xand – ever thought of getting a little bell to wear around your neck?” Buffy asked as she walked over to her friend and gave him a hug.

“Like it?” Xander asked, pulling away from Buffy and flinging his arms out to encompass the place. “It’s just a little something I threw together, just for you guys.” He smiled and offered his hand to Spike who took it in a firm handshake.

“It'll do,” Spike said smiling. “Little understated for my taste . . .”

“Wait ‘til you see your room! Big screen, satellite TV – you can watch soccer . . . err . . . football twenty four hours a day!” he informed Spike who visibly brightened at the thought.

“Pleease! Don’t we get enough of that at home on cable? What we need is more ice staking! Does it get ice skating twenty four hours a day?” Buffy asked Xander.

“Well, Buffster . . . I don’t know. But, for you, I’m sure we can figure something out! Of course, there is actual ice staking in the rink in the woods,” Xander informed her.

“Seriously!!?? Oh my God! I may never leave!” she exclaimed and Spike rolled his eyes. She was off her gourd if she thought she’d get him out in the cold on a block of ice with knives on his feet for shoes.

“How’s Annie?” Buffy asked, switching to a serious tone.

“Oh, poor thing, she only has fifteen girls and five witches vying for her attention . . . I really don’t know how she’s survived!” Xander joked.

Buffy smiled. “Sounds dire.”

“Com’on, I’ll show you your room. You can rest a while before everyone gets up,” Xander offered, as he walked over to the bags sitting on the floor and picked one up.

“Is there a freezer we can put the blood in?” Buffy asked, indicating the cooler that sat next to their bags on the floor.

“Yeah, kitchen’s through there,” Xander pointed towards the kitchen. “I’ll meet you back here in a minute,” he said, as he picked up another bag and headed towards the stairs with them.

The kitchen was massive and had every modern convenience. Buffy just shook her head, taking it all in, as Spike unloaded the contents of the cooler into the chest freezer. When he was done, they went back to the foyer where Xander was just coming back down the stairs.

“This way sir, madam. Your quarters await your arrival,” Xander said, bowing and swinging one arm in a wide arc across his body and towards the stairs.

The spiral staircase was handmade from natural wood, and their room, or more appropriately, suite, was at the top of it – it was the only room on that level. Like the rest of the house, the rooms were warm and cozy and had every modern convenience. The bathroom attached to the bedroom was massive, larger than their whole bedroom at the mansion, with a double shower and a Jacuzzi garden tub that overlooked the lake behind the house. “God, Xander, this is . . . amazing!”

“You deserve it, Buffy. Oh, and don’t worry about anything . . . these walls?" Xander knocked hard against the nearest wall to illustrate, "Solid. As in sound proof.” Xander gave them a grin before adding, “You’ve got a couple of hours before anyone gets up, so you can get some rest . . . or whatever.” Then he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

“I need a shower,” Buffy said as she started to walk towards the bathroom. “How ‘bout you?”

Spike smirked. “Yeah, could do,” he said as he tugged his belt loose and followed her.

Buffy pulled her shirt off over her head and her jeans and thong down off her legs, dropping them all on the floor, before reaching into the large shower and turning on the hot water. She was surprised when it was hot almost immediately – not like at the mansion when they had to wait five minutes for the hot water to get there.

Buffy stepped in under the spray, closed her eyes and let the water wash over her head and run down her body. Spike stepped up behind her and pressed his chiseled body against her back, his erection pressing hard against her ass as he nibbled at her neck. She moaned and reached back between them to take his cock in her hand, stroking gently up and down its length.

Spike reached past her and dropped some liquid soap from a dispenser onto his hand. After lathering it into a foam between his palms, he began rubbing her neck and shoulders in a gentle massage. The soap smelled of lavender and Buffy leaned her head forward and moaned as he kneaded her tight muscles. He stepped back so he could work his way down her body and she let go of his cock.

Buffy leaned forward, her hands on the wall in front of her, and reveled in the feeling of the warm water pouring over her and Spike’s strong hands massaging all the muscles down her back. Soft moans escaped her mouth as he worked all the stress and tightness out of her body.

When Spike finished working all the way down to the small of her back, he got more soap and pressed his body against hers again as he massaged the muscles from her shoulder, down her arm, and all the way to her fingertips. When he’d finished both arms, he trailed his hands down Buffy’s sides to her hips and then forward to her flat stomach before coming back up her body and circling her breasts with the foam. The water washed most of the soap off almost as soon as he applied it, but there was enough to make his hands flow over her skin like silk. Her nipples hardened immediately when he circled them with his hands, then, when he rolled them between his slick fingers, her back arched and she pressed back against his body with a moan.

Buffy turned in his arms and pulled his head down to capture his mouth in a hungry kiss. Her tongue explored his mouth and lips as he ran his hands up and down her back and sides with feather touches. “Spike . . .” she murmured against his mouth as she wrapped both arms around his neck and lifted herself up so she could wrap her legs around his hard torso. He grabbed her hips with his hands, supporting her, so she could let go with one hand and guide his cock into her wet heat. She lowered herself down on him and they both gasped as he entered her. That feeling of being joined, even after all this time, was still as thrilling as it was the very first time.

Spike moved forward and pressed Buffy’s back against the wall of the shower. She held onto the shower head above her with one hand, her other around his neck, as the hot water continued to rain down on both of them. They began to move, pressing their bodies together and pulling back in an easy rhythm, as their desire grew ever higher.

“God, Buffy . . .” Spike murmured against her skin as his thrusts got harder and their mutual desire seemed to be the only thing that existed in the world.

“Yes, Spike! God, harder!” she yelled at him as she felt her orgasm building from deep within her. “Baby, yes! Fuck me, harder!” she demanded as he thrust into her hard and fast, slamming her back against the wall with each stroke. “Yes, baby, yes, YESSSSSSSS,” Buffy screamed as she came and Spike kept thrusting hard into her, taking her orgasm higher still, until her screams of release echoed off the walls of the shower and engulfed them both. Her pussy tightened around his rod until he couldn’t hold back any longer and he spilled his cum deep in her with one final, powerful thrust.

Spike reached over with one hand and turned the water off before carrying Buffy out of the shower, out of the bathroom, and to the bed – leaving a trail of water across the floor the whole way. They tumbled down onto the bed and Spike pulled the sheet and quilt up over their wet bodies until they were completely covered, even their heads. Spike rolled onto his back under the cover and pulled Buffy atop him, catching her mouth in a soft kiss.

“I love you,” he murmured to her as he held her tight against him. “I love you, too, Spike,” she replied, laying her head on his shoulder – her wet hair draped across his chest; her body covering his. She slid her arms around his neck and moaned a contented, spent sigh. As they both drifted off to sleep, all the bickering and wrong turns of the past two days were completely forgotten.

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