I just sat there, on a slab, looking at him. He was sulking, as usual. I looked at his skin, so smooth and pale. I wondered if it were really that cold. She always told me that it was cold, but I could never figure out if his skin was cold like steel, ice, stone, or just like the wooden top of my desk. Is his skin hard, or does it feel like mine? "Can I touch your skin?" I finally asked.

He just looked at me. "Can you what?"

"Can I touch your sk…"

"I heard you. I just don't understand why," he replied. "Why would you want to touch my skin? Why would you ask to touch my skin, anyway?" He seemed disturbed by this.

"Oh, never mind. It was nothing," I lied. It was sort of important to me. I was trying to understand him. I wanted to know where he was coming from.

"What part of my skin did you want to touch?" he grinned, slowly striding towards me. "My hand? Maybe my cheek," he questions, as he stops so close that if he had breath, I'd feel it on my face. We were eye to eye. Ripping open his shirt, he whispered, "My chest?" I couldn't raise my eyes to meet his piercing gaze. I could only look at the floor. "Or, maybe you just want me to touch you. Caress your cheek. Kiss your lips." He touched my cheek as he said it. Then, he leaned closer to me, tilted my face up and forced me to look him in the eyes.

"Well, I… uhhh…" I stammered.

"Maybe you just want to know what a vampire would feel like inside you. Knowing you in a way that few ever would. Caressing your thighs with cold hands, your breasts. Sliding up between your legs. Feeling that wonderful pain upon entering you. The slow, rhythmic thrusts." He was standing between my opened legs by this time. My breath became ragged as he continued to describe the experience. "Your juices flowing as the thrusting quickens. Lips and limbs tangled together. Unable to tell one body from the other. Sweat pouring off your body as you reach climax. Praying, to whatever god, that you aren't drained of blood while entangled in each other's bodies."

He put his hands on my hips and pulled me closer to him. "I never said…" I started. "I mean… it would be… uhh… nice."

"NICE?!? Just bloody nice? I can show you just how 'nice' it can be!" Before I knew what was happening, he was giving me the most passionate kiss I've ever had. Suddenly, I realized that I was kissing him back. Without thinking, I took his shirt the rest of the way off and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. As he started kissing my neck, I dug my nails into his back. I was afraid he would bite down, but excited at the same time. He continued kissing me between my neck and lips, occasionally burying his face in my hair. I kept kissing him, clawing his back, and running my fingers through his hair. His hands slid up my back, under my shirt. He broke our kiss long enough to pull my shirt over my head. He looked down at my naked torso. Before I could cover my breasts, his hands were on them, lightly caressing, causing my nipples to harden. As I looked into his face, he tilted his head slightly and smiled softly. He then looked into my eyes, leaned down and tenderly kissed each breast.

His strong arms lifted me easily. He carried me down to his bedroom, below the crypt. We were kissing the entire way. He lay me on the bed and lay down next to me. Instinctively, we both kicked our shoes off at the same time. His fingers traced an invisible line from my lips, down my chest and belly and came to rest on the button of my jeans. Slowly, he kissed down that same line as he unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans and slid them off my legs. Then he grabbed the waistband of my panties with his teeth and pulled them down. I shivered in anticipation. At some point, unbeknownst to me, he managed to remove the rest of his clothing. He crawled back into the bed and covered the both of us with a sheet.

I felt his hand caressing my side, slowly making its way down my hip to my thigh. With speed I'd never before seen, he moved from my side to between my legs, separating them with his own. I closed my eyes. I was so nervous. "Open your eyes," he whispered. "I want you to remember who you're with, not who you want me to be."

I opened my eyes and said, "You are the person I want to be with. Just you." I kissed his cool lips and wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled him even closer. With a mutual thrust, I felt him enter me. "Oh, gods," I sighed. He started with slow strokes, letting us both get used to the sensation. I licked and sucked on his earlobe, then kissed his neck. He shivered a little and for an instant, I felt the ridges of his vampire-forehead.

"Sorry, Luv," he whispered, "Sometimes I can't control it. I promise, I won't bite you unless you tell me you want me to bite you." He was almost crying.

"It's all right. I know you didn't mean it."

"I just want us to be one, but I'm willing to wait." He rolled us over, putting me on top of him. "I'll let you be in control," he grinned.

I sat back, slowly thrusting up and down. He ran his hands across my rear, up my sides and caressed my breasts. Our thrusts quickened. "Oh, yes!" I moaned. "You feel so good!" He reached between us and rubbed my clitoris. "My gods! Yes! Oh YES!" I heard myself scream as I climaxed.

He rolled us back over and continued to make love to me. His thrust was so forceful, but careful enough not to hurt me. He slid his tongue up my breastbone, to my throat. He lingered at my throat. I was breathing heavily. "Drink," I heard myself say. "Just don't kill or turn me." Before I got the words out, I felt the ridges of his vampire-forehead on my cheek.

"You're sure?"

"Yes, please yes." I felt his sharp teeth graze my neck, then the sweet pain of his bite. I orgasmed again from his bite and his thrust.

"Oh, hell!" he moaned as his body stiffened and shivered. He quit drinking and thrust hard. He let out a sound that was half groan and half growl. Then he collapsed onto my body for a few seconds.

"I'm so dizzy," I managed to mumble. This seemed to snap him out of his daze. He looked at my neck.

"Bloody hell! I'm so sorry," he cried out. He vamped and bit into his own forearm. He turned back to normal as he put his bleeding arm to my lips. "You have to drink, Pet. Just a little. You have to heal. Your heart is beating too fast, you're losing too much blood. If you were anyone else, I wouldn't care. I'd just finish you off. Now, drink!" His blood was in my mouth, so I swallowed. "That's right, Luv. Just a little more." He checked my wound again and pulled his arm away. He sat on the edge of the bed, put his head in his hands and started to sob. "How could I do that? That was so stupid," he muttered.

"Hey, I'm still alive. It was a very different sensation, but I feel so strong now," I said trying to comfort him. "Lay back down with me."

He rested his head on my breast as we wrapped our arms around each other. His body was warm now. It had been cool like any room temperature object. But not hard like a rock, instead like any other human. Now, with my blood in his veins, he was warm. "I'm so sorry Willow," he whispered.

As we drifted to sleep in each other's arms, I whispered back, "It's OK, Spike. I'm OK."

Part 2

"I want steak," I said and his eyes got wide. Realizing what I had said, I corrected myself, "Not A STAKE, but steak, beef, a nice sirloin, rare. Very strange, considering that I don't eat beef. Chicken and fish, that's the extent of my flesh eating."

"You had me scared for a moment there, Red," a wave of relief washed over his face. The relief was quickly replaced by a smirk. "But, Pet, you were a flesh eater last night." He winked, referring to the blood drinking I had done when he drank of me a little too deep.

Terror stuck me, "Wait, you didn't turn me last night, did you?" My mind raced, trying to remember what he had said, 'Your heart is beating too fast, you're losing too much blood.' Did I die? I couldn't remember.

"Calm, Luv. Breathe. Remember, you still breathe." I took a deep breath and felt my pulse, it was still there. "I stopped well before you died, but if I would have let you go, you would have bled to death." He wrapped his arms tight around me, "Calm. Breathe."

"Don't scare me like that!" I smiled and brought my lips to his. " I don't want to be turned, at least, not for a long time."

"Not to worry, Red, I'd never turn you unless you asked for it." I had to smile at this, it was so 'Anne Rice' of him to want me to ask to be turned. "Besides, from what I've heard of the other dimensional Vamp Willow, not really a person I'd want to have around. I may be evil, but she was EVIL, from what the whelp said."

"Yep, very evil, very slutty, and I think she was gay." Not that I was totally straight. "Enough about her, I'm hungry."

"Sure, Pet, let's get you some food."

"Not that kind of hungry. I want you." Feeling bold, I started kissing down his chest as he had mine the night before.

I teased my tongue down his breastbone, bit down on a nipple. He moaned his pleasure. My fingers traced the lines on his well-defined abs, and my lips followed. I grasped his shaft in my hand as I held my mouth poised above the head of his member. He groaned and twitched slightly. "Do you want me?" I breathed.

"Please, Willow, yes," he gasped.

My tongue touched the tip of his cock and he put his hand on the back of my head. Achingly slow, I took him in my mouth. I knew full well that he had the strength to push me to take him faster. Yet, he showed great control and let me go at my own pace. I let my teeth graze his shaft. When I did, his hips would buck slightly and he would moan my name. I loved hearing my name instead of Red or Pet.

I felt his body go stiff and tremble, "I'm about to cum, Willow!" I continued to lap and suck and stroke him, until I had every drop. His body went limp and he started to chuckle. "God, that was good."

"Thank you," I smiled and climbed back up his body. I nestled myself into his strong arm and rested my head on his chest. With his other hand, he reached between my legs and he rolled my clit between his fingers. He nibbled my ear and kissed my neck. Suddenly, he placed two of his long, cool fingers in my hot, wet core, rubbing my button with his thumb. That was all I needed and I exploded into an earth shattering orgasm. "Spike!! God, yes!"

As I tried to catch my breath, he brought his fingers to his mouth and tasted my juices. "Ummm, you taste good in so many ways. I'll have to remember that." He pulled the sheet back over our bodies as we spooned together. We fell back to sleep that way, both his arms wrapped around my body. I felt so protected, needed and loved.

We walked through the streets of Sunnydale, side by side, with amused little smiles on our faces. Spike and I had a semi-secret love affair. We weren't hiding it, but we weren't announcing it either. Xander, Anya and Dawn had noticed, but Giles and Buffy seemed oblivious. Maybe they just didn't want to see, with the whole Slayer/Watcher selective sight. Although, I think Giles is beginning to suspect something.

Spike breaks the silence with his mottled North London accent, "So, Pet, want to grab a bite of dinner before we patrol?" I never know if he means dinner for me or a bite for him…or both.

"I could do with some food. Nothing much though, just a sandwich." He hates it when I don't eat much, but I'm rarely hungry and why eat when you're not hungry?

"Oi, Luv, you're going to waste away if you don't eat." He conveniently left off 'and I keep biting you.'

"I know, that's why I'm going to have a grilled chicken sandwich, with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise, a glass of milk and fries, which you can help me eat," I beamed. He smirked. We were comfortable and happy. We got my food and ate. He dipped his fries in mayonnaise, which, as an American, I found disgusting. He said it's because he's British. I was just glad it wasn't blood.

"Ready to go, Pet?"

"Yup…unless you need to feed…"

"I'm fine. Fed before I left to get you. Anyway, we wouldn't want a sleepy Willow out on patrol, now would we? Some young fledge might get it in his head to try and take a bite of my girl and we can't have that." I love it when he calls me his girl. I kissed him gently and quickly. Too much and we'll never get around to patrolling.

*****

We walked into the Bronze and the place was a sea of people. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Spike?"

He sighed and laced his fingers in mine, "I'm sure, Luv." He led me out onto the dance floor just as the music changed to a slow song. Spike pulled me close and we started swaying to the music. I closed my eyes and melted into him.

When the music stopped, we found a table and sat down. We got drinks and hot wings and talked about all manner of things. Xander and Anya arrived and sat with us. Spike kept batting Xander's hand away when he tried to steal some of the hot wings. Anya occasionally made remarks about sex with vampires, asking me questions about what we had done.

"Umm, Anya, honey…." Xander started, shooting pleading looks at his girlfriend. "This is one of those things we talked about."

"Sorry. It's so hard to remember all these rules of polite society."

I had to smile. None of us had normal relationships. I was dating a vampire and my best friend was dating a former demon. "It's OK, Anya. I know you don't mean anything wrong by it. Spike and Xander both say things that are inappropriate at times."

"Hey!" the males said simultaneously. Anya and I just laughed.

"Hey guys! What's up?"

"Hey, Buffy! We're just hanging out. Xander keeps trying to steal Spike's hot wings," I told the approaching Slayer.

"Typical," she said with a smirk, swiping a hot wing for herself.

"Oi! Slayer, you and the whelp get your own." Spike covered the few remaining wings with his hands protectively. "These are mine and Red's."

"Touchy! I only wanted one anyway." Buffy finished the wing and put the bones with the rest. "Besides, I feel like dancing. Who wants to dance?" The music was slow and sensual. Xander knew better than to slow dance with anyone but Anya, so he shook his head no. Spike looked at Buffy like she was insane, but she didn't notice. She was looking around at the other guys in the club.

"I feel like dancing too," I whispered just loud enough for Spike to hear. Without another word, he stood and walked me out to the dance floor. I closed my eyes, rested my head on his chest and twined my fingers in his hair as we danced. Spike closed his eyes as well, rested his chin on my head and let his hands fall to the small of my back. The rest of the world fell away as we danced. Comfortable in our loving embrace. No urgent need to do anything, except be together.

I'm not sure how long we stayed this way, dancing slowly to our own internal music. Apparently, it was well after the music style changed because I heard Spike whisper to me, "Luv, I think we're drawing some attention." Suddenly, the throb of the pounding music flooded in my ears.

"Oh," I sighed. "Let's get out of here. I want you to myself."

We picked up our things and said our goodnights to Xander and Anya. Buffy looked at us with a questioning look on her face. She approached Anya as we were leaving and I heard her ask, "Where are they going? And what was up with that dance?"

"Oh, they're probably going to go have sex. Can't you tell when two people are in love?"

"IN LOVE?!?!?!"

I heard Spike chuckle lightly as we walked out to the street. "What's so funny?"

Oh, nothing, Luv. I think Buffy just realized we are a couple." Spike's laughter got a little louder as he wrapped his arm around my waist. I smiled and leaned into his embrace. It was about time that Buffy figured it out.

"So, Willow, what do you want to do now?" As if he really had to ask after that dance.

"Oh, I don't know, I'm getting kind of sleepy here," I loved teasing him. Not that he ever fell for it, but it was fun anyway. Suddenly, I felt him jerk backwards. When I turned to look at him, I saw Buffy standing there. "Oh, great! What do you want Buffy?"

"What do you mean, what do I want? You're leaving with Spike," she shouted.

"Yes, I am. What does it matter to you?" Spike just stood there. He knew better than try to talk to Buffy when she was upset. However, I could see he was starting to tense up. "Look, Buffy, are you trying to do, spoil our evening?"

"Willow? I just want to know why you didn't tell me that you were dating Spike. I mean, I thought I was your best friend, but I have to hear from Anya that you two are in love. What's up with that?"

Spike slid up next to me and put his arm back around my waist. "Slayer, Buffy, we didn't tell anyone, but we haven't hid either."

"William is right, Buffy. Anya figured it out first and told Xander. We didn't think we had to make an announcement. We're dating. It's between us." She looks shocked still, but not as though she's going to stake Spike.

"Who's William?"

"Ugh! Bloody hell, Slayer, I am! William the Bloody. Actually, William Spencer, but I don't expect you to know that. I was human once. I did have another name. You don't think my parents named me Spike in Victorian England, do you?" I squeezed his hand a little. Something to distract him from getting too angry at Buffy.

"Oh, um, no, I just forgot. I'm sorry." This was a first, Buffy apologizing to Spike for being rude. We just smiled.

"Look, Buffy, can we talk about this tomorrow? I promise, I'll tell you everything," Spike cleared his throat at this. "Well, *almost* everything." I giggled and he kissed the top of my head. "I'll see you tomorrow. Don't wait up!" I called over my shoulder as we walked away.

"OK, but you better spill tomorrow," Buffy called after us. I laughed. We walked to the crypt, not really feeling the need to rush. It was a Friday night, so as long as we were inside by sunrise, we had plenty of time without having to worry about my getting sleep. We had the whole weekend, save the conversation with Buffy the next day.

"William?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you ever write poetry anymore? I mean, I know that you were a poet before you were turned. I just wondered…"

He stopped walking for a second, then started again. He seemed shocked that I would know that about him. "I, uh, well, yeah. Sometimes I do, Willow. When the mood strikes me." He reached in the pocket of his duster and pulled out a worn, little notepad. "I usually carry this with me, but I try not to write when others are around me."

"Why?" I thought I knew the answer as I asked. I figured that it wouldn't keep with his 'Big Bad' image to be seen scribbling down lines of poetry. I was partially right.

He pulled out a pair of old wire-rimmed glasses, saying, "I have to either wear these, which are falling apart, or switch to game-face. When I bring the demon forth, the last thing I have on my mind is poetry." He hung his head a little, "One of my leftover human traits, I don't see well enough close up to write."

"I thought being a vampire would take care of that." He always seemed to have such acute senses.

"Sure, but not without being in game-face. I can hear, smell, taste and feel ten times better, but my sight remained the same when I look human. Not really something any of us like to talk about." We arrived at the gates of the cemetery then, just a few minutes away from his crypt.

"Why don't you get some new glasses? I mean, they're just reading glasses, right? They sell those in the supermarket. I'm sure you could find some that will work and look nice." I hoped.

"Maybe, Luv. Maybe." He thought for a moment. "Would you like to hear one of my poems? I know they're not good, but they're me." We walked into the crypt, then downstairs and we started lighting candles.

"Oh, Will, I would love to hear your poetry. I'm sure it is beautiful." I sat on the bed and waited.

He sorted through some pages and found the one he wanted. Shyly, it was strange to see him shy, but shyly he creeped over and sat next to me on the bed. Slipping on his glasses, he cleared his throat and started:

"I watch her from out of the shadows,
where I'm forced to stay.
The sun beats down on fiery hair,
she is so beautiful in the day.
In my dreams she comes to me,
her warmth against my chest.
I wake and find that she's not there,
I can no longer rest.
The glorious day she comes to me,
will surely be the start
of a life that I can never have,
for she already has my heart."

"Make love to me, William," I whispered.

"Always, my love."

He took off his glasses and placed them, with the paper, on the table by the bed. His hand slipped into mine as our lips met. The kiss was not urgent or rushed. It was soft, tender and loving. We took our time, touching, feeling and undressing slowly. Savoring every moment as though it would be our last, but knowing we had forever. I felt his fingers at my breast as he laid me back into the mound of pillows on the bed. I wrapped the fingers of one hand in the short blonde hair at the nape of his neck and traced light designs up and down his back with the other. His other hand paused at the entrance of my heat as he planted soft, barely there kisses on my lips, cheeks, eyelids and neck, then pushed one, two, three fingers inside me. We whispered words of love and adoration to each other as he slowly rubbed my nub with his thumb.

"Oh, Will, I can't wait anymore."

"Me either, Will."

Before I could gasp another a breath, he swiftly removed his fingers and replaced them with his gloriously hard cock. A unified moan escapes both our mouths as we fell into a slow, steady rhythm. Spike pressed into me and I lifted my hips to meet him, then he pulled back, almost completely out and pressed in again. We made love slowly. The pressure mounted and I came with a shudder, biting into my William's shoulder. He paused a moment and returned to the slow rhythm. I felt the pressure mounting again, "Come with me William. Drink and come with me."

He sped up, becoming more urgent. His entire body tensed and he slipped into the demon visage. As his fangs sank into my neck, the sensation brought me to orgasm and I called out in a stream of incoherent sounds. A few seconds of lightly sucking at my neck and I felt his whole body spasm. We lay there in a puddle of boneless flesh, with Spike licking my wounds and kissing my neck and face.

"Willow, I love you so much."

"I love you too, William."

"You don't have to let me drink from you."

"I know, but it feels so good when you do." He pulled the quilt over our bodies and we kissed and talked and made love through the night and into the morning.

*****

I woke in the afternoon and looked at my lover sleeping next to me, curled around my body. I tried to get up and Spike's grip tightened around me. I kissed him on the cheek, "William, love, I have to go. I have to go talk to Buffy."

"Mmmm, not yet. Stay a while longer."

"I can't, but I'll be back soon and I'll bring you a present." Never hurts to bribe a man, especially if that man is a vampire.

"Ooh, pressies! OK, but hurry back, Luv. I can't bear to be apart from your fire. Fire that consumes, yet does not kill. My fire." I smiled because I don't think he realizes that he's rambling in his half-awake state.

*****

"Buffy!" I bounced into our dorm room to find Buffy sitting on her bed, studying. She quickly looked up.

"Willow! Dish, girl!!"

Buffy practically bounced on the bed as I told her about my growing relationship with Spike. I conveniently left out the parts where he drinks my blood during sex. In Buffy's head, that is a stake-worthy offense. Luckily, the marks are low enough on my neck that she can't see them. The bloodplay is part of the fun though.

"So, is he good in bed? I mean, he does have over a hundred years of experience and no pesky soul to lose." She sounded a little sad at this. Her only vampire lover tried to kill us all after they had sex.

"Yes, he is wonderful in bed. We truly make love. It makes me feel so great, I mean to have someone you love feel the same way about you."

"Yeah, I am so off relationships for a while," Buffy sighed. "I mean, after Angel, then Parker, then that freaky Riley guy, it's all a little too much for a girl to handle."

I nodded and checked my watch. Three hours with Buffy and I finally told her that I had to leave. I had just enough time to stop and pick up Spike's present. I stood and hugged Buffy and left.

*****

It was nearing sundown when I finally got back to the crypt. Just before I walked in, I looked down at the present in my hand, *Perfect* I thought. "Hi Honey, I'm home!" I sing-songed as I walked through the door. Spike half-tackled me from behind the door, where he had been waiting for me to return. "Oof! Miss me much?"

"Always, Luv." He peppered my hair and neck with kisses. "Everything go OK with the Slayer?"

I twisted in his arms to face him, "Of course, the fact that you haven't gone on a huge killing spree or tried to kill me is a big plus sign for her." I kissed his nose and wiggled out of his grip. "I'm sure that in the back of her mind she thinks you're trying to hatch some big scheme to take over the world, but the little alliance you two had when Angelus tried to use Acathla against us helped there." He just smiled that perfect smile at me and I got all warm and happy inside.

"That's good news. I think we'll need to pay a visit to the watcher soon though. He tends to go off half-cocked when he's left out of the loop." He swept me up in his arms again and twirled me around. "Now, Pet, do I remember right, did you say you were bringing me a pressie?"

When he set me down again, I held the gift box out to him, "Here you go, William. I hope you like it." He kissed me on the cheek and gently took the box from my hands. He was grinning like a kid in a candy shop as he sat down to open it.

"Oh, Willow, it's wonderful. I haven't had a pocket watch in decades." He pulled out his spectacles and studied the watch. "This is Victorian." I just nodded. "And an inscription: To WS, My love for all time. WR." He took off the glasses and looked up at me with watery eyes, "Oh, Luv, this is beautiful. You make me want to be a better man."

He kissed me deeply and lifted me into his arms. "I'm glad you like your present, William," I sighed as he carried me downstairs.

"I got a pressie for you too, Luv." Spike reached into a drawer in the bedside table and pulled out a scroll of parchment and a neatly wrapped package.

I opened the scroll and neatly written, in Spike's old Victorian hand, was the poem he read me the night before. "Oh, Will, thank you." He smiled shyly and waited for me to open the package. Inside was an amulet.

"It's a general protection amulet, Luv. It needs to be attuned to you. I know someone that can help you with that. We'll have to make sure the bloody thing doesn't repel me though, Pet," he smirked. I kissed him soundly on the lips. "So, you like your pressies?"

"I love them, Will. They are so perfect."

*****

"Spike, don't you start!" Giles shouted. "I don't know what you want, but I'm sure you're up to no good." We stood in Giles' den, finally confronting him about our relationship.

"Giles," I said. "I'm an adult now. I know you've been like a father to me, more so than my own father, but you have to respect that I don't go carelessly into relationships. Remember me, the level-headed one of the bunch. The one that had to shoot my last boyfriend with a tranquilizer gun on more than one occasion, watch over him three nights out of every month to make sure he didn't escape from his cage and go kill people when the werewolf took over. I think I can handle dating a vampire after all that."

Giles looked at me, his eyes wide. By now, you'd think that he would be used to my 'resolve face.' Then, looking at Spike, standing next to me, not saying a word, Giles sighed. "Willow, why Spike?" Simple, yet so complicated.

"I love him." Also simple and the most complicated thing in the universe.

"Yes, well…" Giles started. "Could you please give Spike and myself a moment to talk alone?"

I looked at Spike, he gave me a nod to tell me that everything would be alright. "Only if you two promise that you'll both be able to walk out of here on your own feet." They both nodded at me, smiling. I walked out of the room, but stayed close to the door so I could hear what was being said.

"Well now, Spike."

"Watcher, before you say anything, I love Willow. I would never do anything to hurt her. I know you don't trust me any more than you trust anyone with one of your adopted children. But trust her." Spike's voice was almost pleading. "She's a bright flame that consumes me, yet does not end my existence. I do not wish to extinguish that flame," his voice was that of a cultured man, so unlike what we were all used to. Suddenly, he was back to the street voice, "Anyway, I've heard tales of Willow as a vampire, not something I want to see in person."

Giles laughed, "Quite. I just wanted to make sure that we were on the same page," then Giles' voice went to that scary place that he only used when he was deadly serious. "Anything happens to Willow, or any of my children, and I find that you were a part of it, you will be dust before that infernal smirk crosses your lips. Do I make myself clear?"

"Ripper," I could almost feel the smirk creep over Spike's features. "I knew you still had it in you. And, yes, I understand, but you needn't worry about any of them, hurting them would hurt Willow, and as I said, I won't do anything to hurt her. Anything." Then, softly, "I love her."

They walked out into the living room, where I was now sitting. "Go, you two. But be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt. God help me why, but yes, that does include you, Spike."

"Let's go, Luv, before the Watcher here has a change of heart."

"Bye Giles!" I shouted over my shoulder. "And, thanks."

*****

His caress was soft and gentle as we made love, secure in the knowledge that everyone of consequence knew about us and there was no danger. The touch of this vampire made me feel whole, complete.

As time went on, we moved in together, not my dorm or his crypt, but an apartment together. My magic grew stronger and Spike's bloodlust decreased. He still drank from the living, but only those that truly deserved to die. The ones that Buffy couldn't slay because they were human, yet needed slaying because they were more evil than the demons we all fought. Life with a vampire wasn't all bliss, just like any other couple, we had our fights. I'd storm out in the sunshine to get away or he'd skulk off to 'kick some demon arse' and we'd come back to each other, stronger with our love. I knew that one day, I would die and he wouldn't bring me back. He might follow me, he's said many times. Maybe he will.

THE END!!!