Sandy Places Among the Angels 29/31

[gilascave]

by Wolfling and James

Xander woke up tangled in blankets, sheets, a pillow, and what seemed like more arms and legs than two guys should own. Some of them were cool to the touch -- Spike. Some of them moved when he told them to -- his own. Now if his brain could just wake up enough to remember why he felt like there was something wrong, he'd be great. Was he late for class? Did he have to get home soon for something? Did he -- oh. Xander opened his eyes.

Doyle.

He glanced over, but Spike seemed sound asleep. He didn't even stir as Xander leaned across him to grab the phone. Xander dialed without looking, watching Spike's face, instead. Spike remained asleep, for which Xander was grateful.

He listened to the phone ring a couple of times before it was picked up. "'ello?" Giles said, voice thick with sleep.

"Dad?" he whispered, though it wasn't like the sound of his whispering wouldn't wake Spike any less than his normal volume. But he couldn't bring himself to talk any louder.

"Xander?" Giles suddenly sounded much more awake. "What's wrong?"

He had to open his mouth, swallow twice, before he could say, "Doyle...."

"Doyle..? Did he have another vision?"

"He's dead." He felt his throat close up, and he held himself still. Hearing himself say it made it sound so...real.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone. "Are you all right? Physically, I mean."

"I...I wasn't there."

More silence, then Xander thought he heard a sigh of relief.


"It was...a scourge something...was going to kill anyone who wasn't full demon. He shut it off or something." Xander tried to remember what Spike had said, the few things he'd said when Xander had tried to ask him how it had happened. He still didn't know exactly what had happened, but he wasn't ready to ask again.

"How are you doing?" The words were asked gently, as if Giles was afraid the question would break him.

"I don't know." It was the truth. Not just because he'd only woken up a few moments ago. He still felt numb, but it was nothing like what he'd felt when Jesse had died.

He heard Giles take a breath. "Are you alone?"

"N..no. I'm at...Bork's place." He hated saying that. He'd avoided having to say that name to Giles for weeks.

"Good. You shouldn't be alone right now."

"Yeah." He found himself relaxing. A little, at any rate. Now, though, he had no idea what he wanted to say to Giles. What else was there to say?

"Have you called the school, let them know you're not going to be to class for a few days?"

"Uh." Xander blinked, then realised why it didn't matter that he hadn't thought of it, yet. "I just woke up. He...was killed last night. A few hours--"

Just a few hours ago.

"Shh. Don't worry about school then. I'll call them before I leave."

"Thanks-- leave? Where are you going?" Xander didn't try to lower his voice. Spike hadn't moved -- he was either sound asleep such that nothing would wake him, or he was faking it to let Xander talk to Giles.

"Los Angeles. I'm not about to sit here when you need me." There was a slight pause. "Unless you rather I didn't-"

"You're coming here?" He let out a breath with a rush. "Oh. Yeah. I mean you don't have to but, yes, when?"

"As soon as I shower and dress."

"I..." Xander swallowed. "Thanks."

"Are you going to stay at Bork's until I get there?"

"I don't know. I haven't talked to Cordy or Angel. I dunno...if...I could meet you at my place," he suggested.

"I would feel better knowing you're not alone."

"I'm not in any danger. It's over. Doyle...Doyle did it."

"It's not your physical safety I'm worried about."

"Oh." He looked over at Spike. Hadn't moved, hadn't cracked open an eye. Wasn't breathing -- but that didn't tell him anything. "I won't be alone."

"Good. You stay there and I'll come and pick you up."

Xander sat up, wide awake. He managed to attempt to avoid babbling. "Uh, you..here? Um, I can.. we..I'll be at my place. By the time you get here. To LA. Not Bork's. I have to...uh..." He stared at Spike, who was still pretending to be undead and not helping. Xander realised he was staring at Spike's naked ass. "I have to go home anyway. To. Um. You don't know where it is."

Giles rattled off Spike's address. Xander wondered if his heart was still beating.

"You...you've been here before?" He glared at Spike's naked, unmoving ass. What the fuck was going on?

"Is there some reason I shouldn't have?" Giles sounded confused and a little taken aback.

"You didn't tell me. He didn't tell me." His death glare was having no effect on Spike's posterior. What *else* was Spike not telling him? Hanging out with Angel -- in front of Cordy. Getting visits from Giles. What next? That he'd converted to being a Lutheran?

"That I had Bork's address? I'm sorry, I thought you realized."

"I...I..." Xander closed his mouth. Then he realised what Giles wasn't saying. "You haven't *been* here."

"Well no, not yet." Giles paused. "I'm beginning to wonder if I should have, though."

"Oh! No. No, no...er , I mean.... I just. It's...um...." Xander was looking around frantically, trying to figure out why he'd be freaking out about Giles having visited. Other than the real reason. As he looked around, though, all he could see was an apartment huge enough for twenty, clean only by virtue of Spike not owning much stuff and leaving half of what he did own at Xander's place. It was practically unlived in, even for the undead.

"Just...?" Giles asked leadingly.

"Neighbors," Xander gasped, wondering where the inspiration had come from, but not willing to ask. "I mean -- they're fine! They leave us alone. But I...figured you'd...um...not freak, because if I say you might freak you'd freak. But...you know. Lecture, maybe. They're hafnar," he added, realising Giles had no idea what he was babbling about.

And hadn't he been not going to babble? At least he wasn't making anything up -- the only other inhabitants of the building *were* hafnar demons, even if they were actually pretty nice hafnar demons.

"Is that all? Xander, you do remember I'm a Watcher? I'm not going to...freak because your boyfriend has hafnar demons for neighbours."

"They bring us pie." He had no idea why he'd said that. They did, though, even if it hadn't been made out of anything Xander could *eat* or that Spike was willing to.

"Err, yes. As long as they're not offering to make you *into* a pie..."

"They might have. I couldn't really understand through their accents. But so far, not even trying to drag us into their place, or near the raging bonfire in the laundry room."

"That's always good to know."

"I...so you're coming down?"

"Yes." Giles voice was once again all business. "I'll be on the road in under an hour. Stay where you are, I'll meet you there."

"Uh--" There was no way out of this, that wouldn't have Giles here sooner than possible just to find out what it was that Xander didn't want him to see. "Do we have to clean the place up?" he joked, lamely. It was daytime. Where -- how -- could he send Spike away? And how could he send Spike away from his own place?

"Shovel a path to the doorway if necessary. Other than that..."

"Right. If we can find the shovel." He glared at Spke's ass again. Sewers, then, and Spike could whine about it later. Xander would just owe him. A lot.

"I'll be there soon."

Xander gripped the phone, and said in all honesty, "Thanks."

"Anytime you need me. You know that."

"I know." And he did. And it was why he was grateful for Giles coming down, even if he had no idea how they were going to hide Spike.

"I love you, Xander."

"I love you too," rolled out without him even thinking.

He heard the pause on the other end of the phone. "I'll be there as soon as I can," Giles repeated, his voice wrapping the words around him like an embrace.

"OK." Xander hesitated, then hung up before he could spend another twenty minutes saying goodbye.

Then he slapped Spike's ass.

Spike opened his eyes. "You wanna have sex with your old man on the way down?" He didn't sound like he'd been asleep at all.

Xander froze. "What?" he squeaked.

Spike raised his head slightly. "You spanked me. But -- do we have time to have sex with Giles on his way?"

"I..."Xander shook his head, going over what Spike had said. "Oh," he said faintly. "You meant did I want to have sex with you, while Giles is on his way down."

With that, Spike raised an eyebrow. Then he grinned. "Still carrying a torch?"

Not looking at his reaction to that question too closely Xander threatened, "I can always go get a torch to use on you. And I'm not talking flashlight."

"Oo, I love it when you talk dirty." Spike rolled over, onto his back, sprawling casually.

"Would you be serious? Giles is coming. Here. He knows where you live."

Both eyebrows went up. "Thought you wouldn't tell him. What with the keeping me a secret, and all."

"I *didn't*!"

"Then how'd he find out?"

"How should I know?" Xander's voice was going shrill with panic.

"Oh. One of those resourceful Watcher things?" Spike didn't seem concerned. He did lean forward and try to give Xander a kiss, though.

Xander pulled away. "You're being entirely too calm about this."

"Why shouldn't I be?" But Spike narrowed his eyes. "I did hear what he said. Wasn't anything bad."

"But-"

"What?" Spike seemed sincerely confused.

"Giles! Is coming *here*!" When had Spike gotten so thick-skulled?

"Yeah. So he said. So you've said." Spike looked around. "He said we didn't have to clean up."

"Spike!" Xander yelled.

Now Spike narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Giles is coming here! You're here! Naked!"

"I can put clothes on," Spike said, reasonably. "Possibly even before he drives down here from Sunnydale."

"But you're Spike," Xander said slowly as if explaining to a particularly dense child.

"And you're Xander. Your old man's name is Rupert." Spike said it right back, as if both of them were dense children.

"He doesn't know about you."

"Right. Hence the years of secrecy." Spike nodded.

"And he is coming here. To my boyfriend's apartment. Which is your apartment. You think he might just put that together?"

Spike looked thoughtful. "So you're saying 'Spike, do you remember where you put that six pack of Bork-facade potions you had made up'?"

Xander stopped and blinked at his boyfriend. "Huh?"

"You forgot I had them?" Spike's eyes grew wide. "Er, I maybe forgot to tell you I had them?"

"You have Bork potions." Xander was quite proud that his voice remained steady and calm. Prouder still he wasn't beating his boyfriend to dust with a pillow.

"Yeah. In case someone's dad showed up on the doorstep unannounced." Spike was actually looking a bit sheepish.

"You were expecting this?" he yelped. Calm and steady had just gone right out the window.

"Well, no. But -- I thought it couldn't hurt. Got six for the price of two, so..." Spike shrugged. "Thought I'd told you."

"You didn't."

"Oops?" Spike looked cute.

Xander just stared at him.

Spike smiled. "Love me?"

"That's the only reason you're not a pile of dust right now."

"Dust? Why would I be dust? I have the potion, I can be all Borky for you and Giles. No Watcher finding his son in bed with a vampire, ergo no dust."

"You'd be dust because if I didn't love you, I would've staked you for being so...so...."

"Cute? Naked? Shaggable?" Spike was leaning back, on the bed. Naked. Shaggable.

Xander frowned, trying to ignore all that. "Annoying."

"That too." Spike nodded. It suddenly occured to Xander that -- for a guy who'd been as upset as Spike had been last night, Spike was acting really weird.

"Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"You're...are you...Is something wrong?" Xander stammered. "I mean other than the obvious."

Again, up went the eyebrow. "Wrong how?"

"You tell me."

Spike looked confused. "I've missed an episode, luv. What are we talking about?"

"You're acting...weird. Considering."

"Considering Giles?" Then Spike made an 'oh' face. His voice changed a little. "Considering Doyle? I just..." He looked away, guiltily.

Xander reached out to touch his shoulder. "What?" he asked softly.

Spike glanced back at him, but then stared at the floor. "I just...was upset about.. it being you. We settled that. And I'm... hell, Xan. I'm over a hunderd years old. I see people die all the time."

"So...Doyle dying doesn't..."

"It hurts. Don't misunderstand," Spike said, quietly, and as sincerely as Xander ever heard him. "But.. you're here, with me, and that's better than thinking about him being gone."

"And you can...compartmentalize it that easily?" Xander asked. He wondered if it was something he could learn to do. Wonder if he had been, these last few minutes -- and guilt hit him, hard. He tried to focus on Spike, because that was easier, even if it did make him feel guiltier.

Spike shrugged. He looked away, and said, "I've seen a lot of people die. I...try not to think about it." but it looked like he was, now.

"Suppose you wouldn't. With the whole..." Xander waved a hand in the air, to signify "evil vampire" without actually saying the words.

"Killing people for food?" Spike said, and odd, flat timbre in his voice. He didn't look at Xander when he said it.

Xander moved to wrap his arms around Spike's waist, even as he agreed, "Yeah." Spike didn't immediately relax into Xander's embrace. "What are you thinking?" he asked, knowing he was asking because without talking, there was a lot of thinking in his own head that he didn't want to be doing.

"Waiting." Spike must have realised Xander's next question would be the obvious one, as he added, "For you to... say something. Or not say something but act like you can't help thinking it."

"That you're an evil vampire?" Xander asked.

"Yeah. Because -- I am, you know. Never have figured out why you love me anyway."

Xander thought about that. "I don't know if I can explain. I can try...?" Because god knew it would be more distracting than thinking about the fact he was talking about his relationship, when Doyle had only been dead a few hours. He wondered why he had a weird feeling that Doyle would have understood.

But Spike leaned back and shook his head. "Nah. Don't need to -- gives me something to think about when the telly's out.'

Xander searched Spike's face, wondering if he should try to put his feelings into words anyway. "I do love you, you know," he settled for.

A huge grin suddenly appeared. "I know," Spike said in a smug tone.

"Were you just trying to get me to say it?" Xander asked, trying to look stern at his vampire, and failing.

"Would I do that?" Spike asked, this time looking and sounding as innocent as an evil vampire couldn't possibly be.

"Didn't we just finish establishing that you're evil?"

Spike's eyebrows both went up, his eyes went wide, and the utterly shocked look on his face said that whatever Xander was getting at, it couldn't have possibly been Spike. Ever.

"Oh, please."

Now Spike looked smug again. He leaned forward to give Xander a kiss, and stopped just an inch shy of Xander's mouth.

"*I* can kiss *you*?" Xander asked, not sure what this game was but willing to play.

"Yeah." Spike looked at him. "If you want."

"If I want." He raised the eyebrow again.

"You may," Spike said, graciously.

"And what if I want you to kiss me instead?"

"I already have." And he was right, because in that half-nano-second before he'd spoken, he'd cheated. Used his vampirely superpowers to sneak foward and kiss him and reply all before Xander could react.

"Cheat." Then he kissed Spike back. He knew this was just running. But he'd done that before, and it had turned out okay. His chest hurt, and kissing Spike made it hurt a little less.

"Got me kissed, didn't it?" Spike asked, when Xander finished kissing him.

"Cheat. Evil cheat." His heart wasn't quite in the teasing tone, but Spike didn't call him on it.

"Er...wasn't that the whole idea?" Spike asked.


"Yes, but--"

"But what?" Spike was running his hand back up, now, and onto Xander's back.

"Giles..." It was becoming harder to remember his train of thought.

Spike nibbled at his shoulder. "Can I call you 'Angel', then?"

"What?" Xander pulled back to look at him confusedly.

Spike was looking at him, innocently.

"Spike?"

"Xander." Spike was being deliberately infuriating. Maybe he was just trying to distract him.

"Tip for you. Mention Angel while you're trying to seduce me and you won't."

"Oh, but it's all right for you to call me 'Giles'?" Spike retorted.

Xander frowned. "Huh?"

"You called me Giles. I was trying to have sex with you, and you called me Giles. I'm fine for a bit of role-play--"

"First of all, ew. Don't go there or I will have to do something nasty to you. Like withhold chocolate. Second of all, and I repeat, 'Huh?'"

"I admitted I was evil. Then I did this." Spike repeated a hand motion along Xander's back. "I was getting ready to do this," Spke paused and nibbled on Xander's shoulder. "And you called me Giles. I can do the accent, but -- I thought you were pretending you didn't go there."

Xander mentally reviewed the conversation -- which was made difficult by Spike's attempts to distract him. "I wasn't calling you Giles," he said, when he finally figured out what Spike was referring to. "I was starting to remind you that Giles is on his way and you distracted me." He paused. "You can do the accent?"

"Of course I can," Spike said, in Giles' accent.

Xander stared, feeling a bit stunned. As well as other things.

"Do you want me to scold you and send you to your room?" Spike asked, waggling an eyebrow -- still using Giles' accent. "Er, or my room, since that's closer?"

"We're in your room," Xander pointed out, still staring.

"Then perhaps you need to show a little remorse for your transgressions," Spike said, sternly.

Xander opened his mouth, but then closed it again when he couldn't think of any words.

Other than Spike. Accent. Pounce. He shivered.

"Would you like to make it up to me?" Spike asked.

"Muh?"

Spike settled himself against the headboard, sitting on the bed like he was ready to read the newspaper. Or.. possibly something else, as his cock was sticking up and he was guiding Xander's attention towards it. "Xander, be good, now," he said.

Xander stared, his tongue darting out unconsciously as if he could taste Spike in the air.

"That's a good boy," Spike encouraged. "Come on, then."

Without thought, Xander crawled toward Spike, eyes riveted on his lover's cock. Spike patted the side of his head. Glancing up to meet Spike's eyes, Xander leaned forward and licked the head of Spike's erection.

"Ye-e-es," Spike sighed. "That's just right." He got the inflection nearly perfect.

Xander whimpered.

"Suck me, Xander."

"Oh, god."

"Can call me that too," Spike said, smugly, in his normal accent.

In retaliation, Xander closed his mouth around Spike and let his teeth scrape lightly.

"Murrrraag!" Spike's eyes half-closed and his hips gave a slight jerk.

Wanting to hear that sound again, Xander repeated the motion. The sound repeated, with a little more emphasis on the 'my brain is melting now'. Xander pulled back, lightening his touch until he was barely touching Spike. He wondered if he could get Spike to talk again.

First, he had to speak English. Right now Spike was leaning his head back and making happy sounds in no language at all. Xander lightened his touch even more. Spike gurgled. It would have been a bad sound if Spike actually *needed* air. But Xander wanted the accent. He stopped entirely, looking up at Spike with a pout.

Spike stared at the ceiling -- or something inside his skull -- for a few seconds before he looked down at Xander, confused. "Er...stopped. Bad stopped."

"I'm waiting."

"Er--" Spike blinked. "Oh!" He began shifting around -- to be able to give Xander a blow job at the same time.

Xander stopped him. "No, not that. The...talking."

"We're talking?" Spike shook his head. "Oh!" He grinned, evilly. "You mean, the talking," he spoke in a low, accented tone that made Xander shiver. Spike leaned forward to kiss him.

"Muh," Xander enthused.

"Is that all you can say to me, dear boy?" Spike said softly.

It took a few seconds for Xander's brain to process the question and come up with an answer. "Uh huh." He was going to hell, he knew. But his boyfriend was evil -- shouldn't he want to go with? Surely as long as no one but he knew what they'd done, no one would know just how evil he was.

Spike chuckled. And, god help him, he even laughed with an accent. Xander felt like he was melting. Well, all but one particular part of him. He knew he should be talking himself out of this, but it was difficult to think, and he was more turned on than he'd ever been in his life -- except when Spike had bit him.

Spike tapped the side of Xander's face, reminding him he had a task. "Don't let's fall behind. I might lose interest."

There was absolutely no way Spike could lose interest, and they both knew it. But -- Spike could say anything he wanted, as long as it kept him talking. He could read the phone book, for all Xander cared. He made an encouraging sound and lowered his head to lick at Spike's cock again.

This time Spike made the encouraging sound, followed immediately by encouraging words. Lots of 'that's right's and 'just like that's, all in a proper English accent. Each word felt like a caress and sent shivers down Xander's spine. It was definitely encouraging his actions. Xander firmly squelched another little voice that said this was bad, bad, so wrong, and continued encouraging -- or rewarding -- Spike.

As he continued licking, Spike kept talking. Even when he gasped and his words became hoarse, he maintained the accent. Xander moaned as the words, the accent, rolled over him and he relaxed his throat, taking Spike in as far as he could.

The resulting groans were not really in any accent at all -- nor even English. Then Spike gasped out, "Right like that. Good boy!" Xander wriggled under the praise, letting his very straining cock rub against the bed, and redoubled his efforts to make Spike come before he did. It seemed to be working, gauging by the difficulty Spike seemed to be having. "Like...that...yes, good...oh, grupha..muh...."

Even then Spike was keeping the accent. Xander shivered again as he pulled back, bringing his teeth into play again, and pressed a finger along Spike's perenium.

"Gah!" Spike's legs tightened around him. "Mur...ya...god, yes...."

Xander grinned as much as he could and glanced upwards at his lover. Spike was staring at the ceiling again, and his jaw was working slowly, open and closed, with sounds coming out only every so often. Xander debated pulling back again, but there came a certain part where such things were just evil and he was supposed to be the good one. Except he was evil, and going to hell, so why not torture Spike more?

On the other hand, Spike was beginning to beg. "Please, please, Xander. Come on, hurry." He was writhing on the bed, now, holding onto the headboard tightly.

Xander pulled back long enough to ask, "What do you need?"

"What do I *need*?" Spike demanded, with surprising coherency. "Fuck, Xan, just keep sucking. Or licking or biting or *anything*."

And he was still using Giles' accent, and that accent was getting inside of him, doing all sorts of things to his libido. But Xander tried to sound as unaffected as he could. "Anything? Sing show tunes?"

"If you're doing things to my cock, you can sing anything you want."

He wrapped his hand around Spike and began jerking him off. "I'll have to remember that."

"Murrrrrrrrrrr." Spike had finally lost the accent. Xander leaned down to kiss him, then nuzzled his throat suggestively. "Xa-an," Spike whimpered.

Grinning, mouth still pressed against Spike's throat so he could feel it, Xander moved from nuzzling to nipping. Spike was growling louder, now, and with much more need. His fingers were beginning to grasp hard enough to bruise. Xander bit down, hard enough to draw blood.

Spike's grip tightened instantly, stopping only before breaking something important. Xander licked at the spot for a moment, then, with the strange coppery taste still strong on his tongue, he raised his head to kiss Spike, sharing it with him.

Spike grabbed onto him as though he'd been starving. Sucking at Xander's tongue, he held on and kissed him, hard as he could. Xander shivered, kissing him back just as hard. An involuntary whimper came from deep in his throat.

Still growling, and still making bruises, Spike began thrusting his hips hard into Xander's hand. He growled in desperation and turned towards Xander, making him lose his grip on Spike's cock. Spike shoved himself againt Xander's hip and began thrusting. Xander shifted to press himself against the vampire more firmly, wriggling to get even closer.

It didn't make much difference a second later, because Spike was shouting inbetween trying to continue kissing him. His lover's body jerked in Xander's arms and Spike let go of his control. Xander stilled, just holding on as he watched and felt Spike, feeling a surge of...something that he was the one who made Spike like that.

As Spike cried out, he closed his eyes. He'd vamped out, reflexively Xander knew. But Xander knew he wasn't trying to hide himself -- he was just gone, out of control, and letting Xander be the one to hang on. So Xander did, holding him tightly, murmuring endearments, the kind that he'd never had been able to bring himself to say at any other time.

He didn't really know how long it was before Spike began to relax. When he did finally lay limp in Xander's embrace, his face changed back, smoothly, and Spike left his eyes closed.

"Spike?" Xander kissed him gently.

"Mmmmrm."

"You back with me?"

"Mmrrmrm." Spike snuggled.

"That would be a no." Xander kissed him again.

"Hrmm," Spike replied, more quietly.

Xander licked at his neck again, the place where he'd bitten already healed. He felt Spike shiver. Xander wrapped himself around him tighter. "Mine," he said softly.

There was no answer.

"You better not have gone to sleep," Xander warned darkly.

No answer. Spike was completely motionless.

"Typical." Xander sighed, rolling away, over onto his back. "Get me all hot and bothered and then...nothing." He stared down at his cock and wondered how long it would take Spike to do something if he began jerking off.

As he moved, his ostensibly-sound-asleep boyfriend rolled with him, hanging on as though tied to him. Xander narrowed his eyes suspicously, then reached out a hand to pinch Spike in a sensitive spot.

"Again? Already?" Spike moaned in protest.

"Some of us are still waiting for the first time," Xander replied, then after a second's thought. "Actually, third time, but I'm still one behind."

A cool hand groped Xander's behind, squeezing each butt cheek. "Feels like two," Spike said, sleepily.

Xander wriggled hopefully. But Spike let his hand fall, and went back to his motionless state. "Spike, if you're going back to sleep -- or pretend to go back to sleep -- I'm going to get up and...do...something."

"Can I watch?"

"No."

"But I let you bite me!"

"You *let* me bite you?" Xander turned around to give Spike a disbelieving look.

Spike was looking back with a hurt, slightly outraged expression. It mirrored the one Xander felt on his own face -- the difference being, he was justified.

"If that's the way you feel about it, I won't bite you again," Xander told him.

He watched, amused, as Spike's mouth fell open. "You will, too," Spike retorted.

"Not if it's such a huge sacrifice on your part." He did his best to look sympathetic. "I never would have done it if I'd known you hated it so much."

"Will, too," Spike repeated.

"No. I wouldn't want you to be...gritting your teeth and putting up with something that you don't like."

"But if you don't, I won't, either."

Xander froze. Then rallying, he affected a indifferent shrug. "Not like you've been doing it lately anyway."

Spike's teeth were on his throat almost before he stopped speaking. He didn't bite, but hung there.

"You're not going to do it," Xander said, holding perfectly still. All the while some voice in the back of his mind was chanting 'please, yes' over and over.

He felt Spike growl. The teeth pressed against his skin.

"You won't."

He could feel the fangs elongating, twin pinpricks agaisnt his throat, not yet breaking the skin.

"Spike!" He wasn't sure if he was begging or berating.

And without warning the fangs were gone -- from his throat. Spike shifted his head and bit him on the arm, right inside his biceps.

Xander arched upwards off the bed, the cry he wanted to let out getting caught in his throat and coming out as a strangled whimper. Spike leaned onto him, holding him down across the torso. He sucked slowly, but the sensation was the same. Throat, arm, it didn't make any difference. Each swallow Spike made went straight to his cock. He was aching, hips thrusting upwards, desperate for some kind of touch there, something to make him come.

A hand closed on him, as though Spike had heard. Or maybe he just knew what it felt like. He gripped, firm, and began stroking Xander. It was...everything was melding together and Xander felt himself trembling, his hands finding and gripping onto Spike's shoulders with white-knuckled grip.

He heard Spike whispering in his ear, and only then realised Spike had stopped biting him. But his hand was still stroking, and Spike was saying things that sounded wonderful.

"Spike..."

"Love you."

And then he was flying, everything but Spike disappearing from his perception. The cool body pressed against his, holding onto him, holding him down, surrounded him. A soft, accented voice still whispered in his ear and something shot through his brain that it was not Spike's regular accent. If anything, that made Xander fly higher. feeling like lightning has shot along every nerve. He was surprised he didn't black out, although quite possibly he had, and never noticed.

Spike held him -- carried him, rather, until he felt wrung completely out. Xander snuggled up to him, so worn out he was barely able to move.

"Rmmaram," Spike sighed.

"Mmm," Xander agreed.

"Mmph," Spike said, giving him a slight nudge.

Xander grumbled something even less intelligble.

"Oi. You better not be going to sleep," Spike grumbled.

"Mmmmmrrrph?"

"I'm two behind."

Xander laughed, quietly, then silently whispered something meant to be an apology, then let his eyes close so he could go back to sleep. Love and loss would just have to go away for awhile.


end part twenty nine