Chapter 2
Angel fully unleashed his demon as he dragged Spike by his throat out the door. He slammed his arrogant childe against the rough stone wall outside and indulged himself by smashing Spike's defiant grin with a quick right cross.
"Bad mistake, sire. It's only humans I can't fight. Demons are fair game." Spike was spoiling for a good fight even though he knew Angelus was going to rip his head off. Literally.
He raised his fists and struck the older vampire solidly in the chest. As he connected, the chip in his head went off, driving him to his knees with the blinding pain. He retched and tried to rise. Fuck, he was completely defenseless and his sire was beyond enraged. This was really going to hurt.
Angelus gave him a malicious smile, his saffron eyes filled with cold amusement. "Seems that your chip recognizes a soul when it sees one, Spike. Never thought I would be grateful to share this body with Angel. But, hey, find joy where you can, I always say." He raised his fists and set about teaching his childe some humility.
The blows came quickly, Spike felt his ribs crack, his lip split, his nose break. Angelus was working him over with all the experience he had gathered over the last few centuries. "Just had to shoot your mouth off, didn't you, Spike?
Spike collapsed in a heap against the garden wall, his eyes almost swollen shut from the force of Angelus' blows. He stumbled over his apology. "Didn't mean to embarrass you , sire. I just hate the bleedin' soulful version so much for taking you away from us…."
"Hate him as much as you like but keep your tongue off my mate. She has never deserved your contempt." Angelus has stopped hitting him and was leaning against the wall. His game face was starting to fade into the familiar smoothness of Angel's features.
"She's the Slayer, for fuck's sake. She deserves anything she gets."
"Slayer or not, she's my mate and you will show her respect. Do you really want me to teach you how to show proper respect again?" Angelus' voice was a silken purr as he moved over to where Spike was sprawled. "There are still chains at the mansion… and I bet that glorious ass of yours is as tight as I remember. Shall we find out?"
Spike swallowed as a surge of lust ran through him. Even though he was bruised and battered from Angelus' earlier blows, his body responded to his sire's seductive pull. He pulled himself to his feet, swaying slightly. "Love to. But don't you think we should concentrate on the matter at hand?"
The fury reflected in Angelus' eyes faded as Angel reasserted his control over the demon. His bloodlust had been well served by teaching his arrogant childe a lesson. "Tell me what's happened, Spike and spare no detail."
*****
Spike's wounds were healing rapidly as he told his story. The growls from his sire had served as fair warning when he had stepped beyond the rules of vampiric respect for a mated couple. He had made it quite clear to Spike he would not tolerate any further crass comments about Buffy's new lover.
Angel felt the tears welling behind his eyes as he thought about his beloved sharing her body with another man. She had done just as he requested and moved on. He had left so she could take that step. But it still didn't ease his pain or sense of betrayal.
In keeping with the enforced duality of his nature, his demon was raging deep within him. Angelus was well past fury and was devising the most inventive tortures for the fresh faced boy he had noted by the stairs. Buffy was his, she would always be his. Angel was impressed by the ravings of his demon, there were some in the mix that he hadn't even read or dreamed about.
The Initiative which had neutered Spike, *There was an amusing thought for Angelus. His childe, his beautiful murderous childe with his fangs pulled. If it weren't such an affront to him as a sire, he would have laughed out loud* had created a monster named Adam. Adam was a conglomeration of machine, man and demon and was currently cutting a path of destruction through the streets of Sunnydale. His lust for carnage had even shaken the staid citizens of the supremely head-blind burgh into realizing that their town was not normal. People had actually started to pack up and leave the Hellmouth.
Three days before, Buffy had been on patrol with Willow. Willow had been explaining the merits of a new spell she was researching when they had been attacked. Buffy had managed to keep the young witch alive by staking at least 10 vampires (Spike had puffed up a little with pride at the girl's actions. Apparently all the training she had been doing with him had paid off). But even she had been inundated by the tide as they kept coming. She had sent Willow running away and continued fighting, protecting the girl's back as she escaped.
Willow, cradling her broken arm had stumbled into Spike and Xander on the other side of the cemetery. When they made it back to the spot, Buffy was gone. There had been clear evidence that she had been dragged away to a sewer tunnel. Spike sent the injured witch to the hospital with Xander and tracked the vampires through the tunnels. He eventually lost the scent, emerging near Giles' home just before dawn.
The next night, Spike had gone trolling through the vampire community and found the vampires had recognized Angelus' mark on the girl's neck. They had been too afraid of his reputation to harm her themselves, so they sold her to Adam for several toothsome young things. Spike double-checked the rumors and then dusted all of his informants but one. That one was left as a warning against touching a Master Vampire's property. It was alive, barely.
Angel rumbled his approval of Spike's actions, surprising the younger vampire. Angelus was not usually forthcoming with compliments to his childer…… Perhaps soul-boy wasn't as bad as he thought.
"So where is she being kept?"
"Dunno, Angelus… Angel. It's like she just disappeared off the face of the Earth." Spike was pacing again, the limp from a particularly vicious kick earlier was fading. He stopped and looked down at where the ensouled vampire was seated on the picnic table. "Is the blood bond really functioning? Can you feel her?"
"Yes… She is still here in Sunnydale but she is weak… Will, she is so weak." Angel raised his eyes to Spike and saw the compassion in his childe's blue eyes.
"We'll find her, Angel. We'll find her." He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, drawing the smoke deep into his lungs. "Love's bitches, that's what we are, Angel. Nothin' but love's bitches. You with your blond goddess and me with my Dark Princess…"
He grinned and sat down next to his sire, once again pushing the tenuousness of their relationship with a cocky grin. "So, tell me what you think of our clean-cut soldier boy. And don't bother worryin' about my delicate sensibilities."
The smile on Angel's face was one Spike had known for centuries, it was purely his sadistic sire. *Little soldier boy was gonna bleed… Serves him right, idiot should have know better than touch a vampires' mate, not to mention inserting this fuckin' chip in my head. This should be fun *
*****
She hurt, the world was made of nothing but pain and she was its center.
There was no telling how long she had been in this place. It could have been only a few days or weeks. The room was pitch black, no windows, only one door. She was curled in a corner on what must be a wool blanket. Standard army issue by its feel, what did she expect from a creature that was partially built from G.I. Joe doll parts?
She leaned her aching head against the wall, praying that her Slayer healing abilities would kick in a little faster today. Her back was a mass of welts for the beating she had endured. That Frankenstein flick reject of Maggie Walsh's had spent hours working her over. He claimed that he was testing her responses to pain.
The hazel switches hadn't even registered through her adrenaline rush. The riding crop had merely felt like a lover's caress, stinging slightly, making her ache for the cool swipe of Angel's tongue on her skin to soothe it away. *Wow, masochistic much? And why had she thought of Angel's mouth?*
But the bullwhip made her scream until her throat was raw. It tore across her back, leaving bloody furrows in its wake. Adam had beaten her for what felt like hours, had beaten her until she had slipped into unconsciousness. Her heart had slowed to a crawl as her Slayer defenses sent her into semi-hibernation. Not understanding the intricacies of a Slayer's physiology, Adam had stopped the lashing and sent her back to this dark hole.
Initially her back was torn to shreds, skin and muscle rent to the bone but after a few hours, her flesh began to knit itself back together. She knew it would heal without a single scar but that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell. It was strange, although she always healed regardless of how badly she was damaged, the mark from Angel's bite had never faded.
Not that she wasn't grateful, it had saved her from being killed or turned while being held by that nest of vampires. If she ever saw him again, she would have to ask him what being marked meant in vampiric circles.
*Bad, bad Buffy. No talking to Angel, that will only cause more pain. Ask Spike or Giles instead… Oh God, Giles.*
A low moan issued from deep within her as she thought about her dear friends. Willow would be devastated, blaming herself for distracting her during patrol. Xander would be all for storming the castle if he could find it. Tara would be comforting Willow, thank the Powers That Be for her quiet strength. Giles, her ever-diligent Watcher would be tearing through his entire library, searching for some musty old clue to use for her rescue.
Riley, Riley would be awaiting orders that would never come, his training was still too ingrained for her to trust him with devising a plan. Angel…..don't even go there.
They were probably worried to death about her. All of them except Spike of course. He would be laughing his ass off at her predicament….. sarcastic, irritating self-centered bastard… Why was it she had decided to tolerate his presence? Oh yeah, he could be of some use in a fight against anything that wasn't human. But otherwise, why?…..
His long-time relationship with the love of her life was the only reason she put up with his endless crap. He was her last solid connection to Angel.
*Admit it, Buff. You aren't getting out of this one. You can at least think about him while that over-grown tinker-toy decides on the next round of punishment for you.*
A small smile crossed her lips as she leaned her face against the cold stone wall. It reminded her of his chest, so solid, so cool to the touch. He had been her life for so long, she hadn't known how to survive when he left. The first few weeks had been spent in a daze, her body felt as though she was underwater, surrounded by nothing but grayness. Nothing seemed to reach her.
But gradually she returned to the world of the living. Her heart started to heal as the first days of college began and she determined that life would actually go on without him. Her soul still ached deep down for him but he had wanted her to have a normal life. Never let it be said that she couldn't follow an order, or at least one of his.
Parker had been a disaster but taught her a valuable lesson. Demons weren't the only things that could break your heart. Stinky Parker-man had almost destroyed her tenuous hold on sanity but Willow, Xander and some bespelled beer helped get her through that debacle.
Then the not quite visit from Angel at Thanksgiving. The mark on her neck has itched for days, burning whenever he was close even though she was unaware of the significance at the time. It had been nice to know he was watching her back although she had been furious with him for not telling her. When she was in L.A. later that week, she stopped by his office to tell him off. That's when she finally connected the burning sensation with his presence.
Her neck had started to tingle as she got off the bus in the old warehouse district. It tickled, it itched, it burned and when she was finally face-to-face with him, it began to ache. That ache spread from her neck, to her breasts and finally settled in her groin.
It only eased once she left his office. The look of abject misery on his face when she told him that she was going to start forgetting him had torn her apart and she ran all the way back to the bus stop. Her knowing he couldn't follow her into the sunlight did nothing to stop her headlong flight away from him.
They had only seen each other for five minutes but it felt like hours as L.A. rolled out of sight behind her on the way home to Sunnydale. There was something she was missing there but she just could not identify it.
It had been so good to see his starkly beautiful face again. Just one glimpse had wiped away all thoughts of Parker or the budding relationship she had found with Riley. If he had given her one ray of hope, if he had moved one inch towards her, she would have been in his arms. Gypsy curse be-damned.
She would have handcuffed him to the bed in the basement and made love to him for hours. Willow could always have re-done the curse. The witch admitted that she had laid all the ingredients out, waiting for Buffy's call. A call that never came.
Just the thought of him helpless on that big bed of his made her wet. She was constantly amazed by her body's capacity to react to him, even if he was only in her thoughts. Her dreams were always full of him, usually with a minimal amount of clothing. They may have only had the one time on her seventeenth birthday but every line of him was etched permanently in her memory.
He was so exquisite, all smooth skin over muscles of steel. Her tongue darted over her lips as she remembered his unique taste, it would always remind her of the richest chocolate, melting into her senses as she took his sweet length deep into her mouth….. *Where did that memory come from? There had been no time for any oral exploration on her part that night and he had always avoided even the merest suggestion of it before.*
She didn't even know exactly what his cock looked like. The room had been so dark and he had covered her with his body almost immediately once their clothes had been shed. She only knew how wonderful it had felt to be completely filled by him, tongue deep in her mouth, hands engulfing her breasts, his cool shaft buried so far she thought it would meet his tongue somewhere in the middle of her. His size had been daunting while he pushed slowly into her but once he was fully seated, it felt perfectly natural, perfectly right.
His fingers danced on her skin, teasing, taunting her nipples as he gently started to move within her. He lifted his chest away from her to allow her breathing room and she had moaned at the loss of contact. His small smile warmed her to her toes as his velvety voice whispered in the darkened room. "I didn't hurt you, did I? ….. The first time is always painful…. At least for women."
"No…. I'm the Slayer, remember. Not built like other women…." She had backed her words up by clenching her vaginal muscles tightly around him. Those muscles were always tense whenever he was near her, they were part of her Slayer vampire sense. She could locate a bloodsucker at twenty paces by the cramps that started deep inside her. Might as well let him benefit from all that exercise….
"God!… Oh god….. You…" He was actual gasping, drawing unneeded breath because she gripped him so tightly. "Never felt anything….unhh…like.. this."
She looked up at his face, his eyes were squeezed tight as he fought for control. His game face kept slipping over his features, fangs descending and raising with each pulse of her sex. Nothing could ever prepare her for such an erotic, deadly sight. Her Slayer-sense was screaming at her to flip him over, drive a stake through his heart and run. She chose only to follow the first impulse and suddenly she was on top of him, straddling his lean hips as she rode his cock.
Angel lifted his arms above his head, letting her set the pace. Even though he was a vampire, she was still the Slayer and much stronger than him. Buffy noticed his hands crossed on the pillow, reached up and pinned them to the bed with one hand. His eyes widened at her show of dominance and his hips bucked harder up into her sex.
Her smile was part innocence, part seductive temptress as she kept her hold steady on his wrists and leaned over him to lick at his lower lip. "Like that, don't you?"
"Mmm, yesss." His fangs were lowered, slurring his speech, his eyes closed as he undulated beneath her. A particularly hard squeeze made him open his eyes and look adoringly up at her. They had almost shifted completely from their usual soft brown into the glittering yellow of his demon. The change in his features convinced her so much more than his words. Angel rarely lost control of his human mask, his demonic visage only came out in times of extreme emotion.
She kissed him fervently, running her free hand over the ridges on his face, excited by her power over him. Before his soul was returned to him, he had been Angelus, The Scourge of Europe, the most vicious vampire in recorded history. She had reduced him to this, pinned to his own bed, quivering between her thighs, waiting for her next move. He didn't have to wait long.
Buffy lowered her head to his throat and licked at the jugular vein, knowing for her clandestine studies of vampire sexuality that this was one of the most erotic spots. Angel did not disappoint, his moan deepened to a rumbling low in his chest, almost like a slow purr. Smiling against his skin, she licked again and was rewarded by more of that intoxicating sound. Then she bit him, hard.
His hips shot off the bed, his cock buried itself up against her cervix as he screamed her name. His hands tore out of her grasp and he grabbed her, flipping her once more onto her back. His pace was no longer slow and gentle; it was fast, harsh and exhilarating. She wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to hold onto him.
Her chest was growing tighter by the second, her legs trembling as she teetered on the edge of orgasm. Angel lifted his head from the hollow of her throat, human countenance firmly in place and gazed into her eyes. He recognized her need and slid one hand between them, fingers reaching for her clit. One, two, three flicks across it and she was sobbing his name into his chest as her body convulsed with pleasure.
He followed her quickly with a roar, burying his face and fangs into the pillow next to her. The demon within him was raging for her blood to seal the most intimate of acts but after almost a hundred years, Angel could tune him out. She felt him expand within her and then jets of cool liquid filled her tight passage.
Their bodies kept pumping into one another for a few more moments, then slowed and came to rest. Angel lifted his head from the pillow to meet her soft hazel gaze. His face became alight with a radiant smile and he rained kisses down each of her features coming to an aching stop at her mouth. That deep kiss led to many others as he hardened once again within her.
"Do you want me to stop?" he murmured against her mouth as his hips moved in slow circles, punctuated by short, shallow thrusts. "I can if you need me to…."
"No, don't stop. Never stop…."
The sensations in her body stilled as she returned to the reality of her dank cell. Angel wasn't there, would never be there for her ever again. She lowered her face in her hands and wept.
*******