61. Possession
Buffy sat up on the edge of the
bed, and the
Slayer and the vampire undressed quickly in silence, as the weight of
what they were about to do began to become real to them. Buffy finished
before Spike did, turning the bedspread back and lying down on the bed
to wait for him.
The impact of what he was preparing for – taking an eternal mate – as
well as the risks involved, was beginning to dawn on him, and showing
itself in the nervous trembling of his hands as he fumbled with his
belt, finally managing to get out of the restrictive confines of his
dark jeans.
When he turned to face her, drawing in a deep, slightly uneven breath –
it was immediately stolen away from him by the sight that met his eyes.
Buffy was lying on the bed on her back, completely naked, her perfectly
bronzed body revealed to him, as he stood there and simply took in the
breathtaking sight of her. She had already fastened the manacles to the
bedposts on either side of her, and locked her left wrist into one of
them. She fumbled awkwardly to get her right wrist into the other,
having only the use of her right hand to work with.
Finally, she gave up with an adorable, frustrated little pout as she
turned her anxious emerald eyes up to him.
"Help me?" she requested, her eyes wide and pleading, and full of a
certain innocence and vulnerability, in spite of everything, that
caught him off guard.
*Bloody hell.*
His nervousness was instantly forgotten, swallowed up in sheer desire,
as he swiftly closed the distance between them, in once quick motion
fastening the loose manacle around her wrist.
"Try and get away," he instructed, his voice low and husky with his
arousal, but his eyes serious.
He had to know if she was going to be able to break those chains,
should she end up trying.
She strained against the bonds, writhing slightly on the bed as she
tried to break their hold – with no success. "Can't," she assured him
with a note of satisfaction in her voice.
His serious expression shifted to a teasing smirk, as his eyes slowly
trailed up the length of her luscious body.
"You sure? Maybe you ought to try again."
Buffy's eyes narrowed in an expression that would have been dangerous,
had she not been chained up at his mercy, but she smiled as she replied
cheerfully, "Pig."
Spike's response was a self-deprecating shrug, accepting the mildly
stated insult, before silencing her mouth completely with a tender,
thorough kiss that left her suddenly breathless and straining toward
him against the chains that held her, when he pulled away.
He smiled at her useless efforts, as he climbed onto the bed,
straddling her and leaning down to kiss her again – once again pulling
away before she was satisfied, lowering his mouth to kiss his way down
to her throat. He paused for a moment over the rapidly fluttering pulse
point where he would later leave his mark.
She moaned softly when he sucked gently on the spot, closing his teeth
lightly around it in a tempting promise of what was to come, before
continuing the blissfully torturous journey of his mouth down her body
to her sensitive breasts, now aching with need.
His blunt human teeth closed carefully around one erect nipple, grazing
it lightly as he pulled slowly back away from it, and drawing a soft
whimper of protest from her lips when he released it and raised up
slightly to look her in the eye, his own gaze hooded and darkened with
lust.
"Spike," she gasped. "Please – don't stop...don't..." she whispered, her
back arching off of the mattress, her needy breast seeking further
contact as her wrists strained futilely against the manacles.
"Impatient little chit, aren't you?" Spike smirked, running his cool
fingertips slowly down her ribcage on either side, driving her mad with
the light, tingling touch.
"You're the one – who said..." Buffy struggled breathlessly to get the
words out as his thumb obligingly moved to circle the mercilessly
teased nipple his mouth had just left. "...gotta...make this quick..."
Spike's low, warm laugh was musical in her ears, warming her heart as
he lowered his mouth to kiss her again, his hands increasing the
intensity of his exploration of her body, pulling her closer to him as
his throbbing erection brushed against her sodden, longing center,
without actually entering her – yet.
"Maybe not so quick," he murmured against her throat, just before his
teeth nipped gently at her sensitive skin and drew another little gasp
and shudder of pleasure from the deliciously helpless Slayer. "Might
have a bit of time...how do you feel?"
Somehow even the softly spoken reminder of the danger of their
situation sounded sexy when he said it in that low, throaty voice that
was almost a purr – or a growl – or some equally predatorily sexy
feline noise.
"Fine," she admitted in a soft, distracted voice, nodding as he scraped
his teeth lightly along her neck down to her shoulder, before resuming
the tender kisses along her collarbone that made her moan softly with
pleading and pleasure, longing to hold him in her arms, to pull him
closer to her – frustrated and aroused by the fact that she could not –
that for once, she was his to possess – to command...
Her eyes suddenly shot open in alarm, and her body tensed as the
unfortunate train of thought she had taken caused a strange stirring
deep within her that had nothing to do with the pleasurable stirrings
Spike was creating elsewhere in her body.
Spike immediately felt the difference in his lover, and pulled back
slightly, frowning as he searching her distant, hazy eyes.
"Buffy?" he said in a low, cautious whisper. "Not so fine after all?"
With an extreme force of will, Buffy pushed back with all her strength
against the indignant rage she felt building up inside her,
deliberately focusing on her mate through the rising struggle.
"Spike," she whispered, her eyes finding his and struggling to get her
words out while holding back the Slayer demon that was trying to
overcome her. "she's fighting. It's the chains – she doesn't like it..."
Spike rose up off of her slightly, concern and uncertainty in his eyes
as he glanced at the manacles, and then at their key where it lay on
the nightstand beside Buffy's cell phone. He wasn't sure what he could
do to help her; would it be easier for her to fight it back if she was
not bound – if the demon didn't feel so restrained?
"Should I...?"
"*No*!" Buffy snapped in alarm, without meaning to, and the fear in her
voice, for his safety, took the sting from her tone. "No," she
repeated, softer, laying her head back on the pillow, her breath coming
hard and fast as she closed her eyes and tried her best to fight the
demon back. "Whatever I tell you to do – don't unchain me..."
Spike watched her closely, his mind racing as he tried to come up with
a way to help her. "That's all well and good, love – until you order me
to later and I can't resist it..." he reminded her.
Buffy let out a soft little groan as the struggle within her
intensified, and her body tensed up again under him. "She shouldn't be
able to – order you..." she gasped, frowning with concentration as she
tried to keep her thoughts together. "...*I* claimed you...not her..."
"But if she's in your body, your voice, making a command...the claim's
not just emotional or spiritual, pet, it's physical too..." Spike tried
to explain, wondering even if he did if Buffy was still in enough
control to be able to understand what he was telling her, and if their
time could be better spent, considering that it appeared that the demon
was starting to get the upper hand.
"Still," Buffy protested a bit weakly, pausing, her jaw set with
determination as she pushed back as hard as she could against the force
trying to take her over. "you'd think...*my* command would...would..."
Spike's eyes widened as he finished her thought in his mind, realizing
what it was she was saying – and how very important it might be.
"...would override hers," he said aloud, in a voice of grim certainty.
"Buffy!" he put a hand to her cheek, turning her face to look her in
the eye, piercing blue eyes seeking hers and struggling to make her
focus. "Buffy, you have to order it now...so that she can't undo it when
she – when she takes over..."
He saw a flash of understanding in Buffy's confused, pain-filled
emerald eyes, before she nodded weakly, her right hand straining
slightly against the chains. "I have to – have to..." she whispered,
unable to finish the words, her voice fading even as she attempted to
speak, with the physical exertion of the struggle.
Spike knew he was taking a terrible chance, but he knew what she was
trying to say. They needed all the force of the claim behind the
command she was about to give him, so that it would be as binding as
possible, as unbreakable by the Slayer demon as it could possibly be.
He reached for the key and unchained her right wrist, drawing it with
trembling hands toward his throat.
He felt sick with fear, knowing the risk he was taking, the damage that
could be done if the demon overwhelmed Buffy in this moment – but she
had to be touching him for it to work.
He felt her hand clench slightly on his throat, as another forceful
spasm hit her, and she struggled to fight it back. He watched her face
intently as her jaw worked with the effort of pushing back the intruder
within her, and felt a sense of relief as she managed to gain a
moment's advantage, and her hand on his throat relaxed a little, as her
eyes opened and focused momentarily on his with an arresting gaze.
"Spike," she said in a voice of unquestionable authority, and he
recognized the power of her claim in her tone. Whatever she was about
to say, he would be powerless but to obey her. "No matter what I tell
you to do after this – no matter what happens – you will *not* unchain
me until I've accepted your claim. You will not stop, even if I tell
you to, until I have been claimed as your own – and *accepted* it."
"Yes, Buffy," Spike softly accepted her command, his hand gently
caressing hers where it rested, trembling, over her mark on his throat.
He nodded once, slowly, solemnly, closing his eyes and simply *feeling*
the intense power of the bond that made him hers.
He felt the power of her claim, knew that he would hardly be physically
capable of disobeying, if it came to that. He gently removed her hand
from the mark, though he hated to break the intensity of their
connection, and drew it back to the chain that had held it, locking it
around her wrist again *now*, while she was still in enough control to
allow it.
Except – control did not seem to be much of an issue at the moment. Not
anymore.
Buffy's labored gasps as she slowly caught her breath, were the only
sound in the room for a few moments, as his questioning gaze studied
her, noting how the tension seemed to be slowing easing from her body,
as she laid her head back on the bed, her eyes closed.
"Buffy?" All he said was her name, but the question was clear.
She shook her head, a weak little smile of triumph rising to her lips.
"She's gone. Well – not *gone* gone – but she quit. For now. She's not
trying to come out anymore," she assured him, opening her eyes to meet
his with elation.
Spike's eyes widened in surprise. " 'M not quite sure I get it, love.
Why would she just give up like that when she knows what we're about to
do?"
Buffy shrugged slightly, looking away thoughtfully. "Makes sense, I
guess," she said after a moment. "if you think about it. Why would she
keep struggling to take over when she knows that she *can't* make you
unchain her, no matter how hard she tries -- *can't* make you stop
until you've claimed me...what's the point, when the command I just gave
you would override anything she tried to make you do?"
He nodded slowly, realizing that she was right, before his mouth set in
a grim line as he pointed out, "She's most likely saving her strength
for the battle. The dominance ritual."
"Won't do her any good," Buffy smiled softly at him, her breath
becoming steady as her body began to relax, no longer wracked by the
painful battle that had consumed her moments before. "She doesn't stand
a chance."
"So – I've got one question, love," Spike said slowly, his eyes once
again trailing in a lingering gaze down the Slayer's supple body,
none-the-less enticing to him glistening with the slight sheen of the
perspiration from her struggle, her golden hair disheveled and falling
slightly into her face.
"What's -- *uuhh* -- that?" she gasped in surprise, her head falling
back against the pillow again as Spike's roving fingers found her
swollen center.
"Since demon-girl doesn't seem to be planning on making another
appearance – does she?" he paused for confirmation, one eyebrow raised
questioningly over a self-satisfied smirk, as he dipped a finger
tentatively inside her in an almost casual manner as he waited for her
response.
A soft moan was his response as Buffy's back arched slightly and she
squirmed impatiently under his far-too-gentle touch. "No," she replied
in a shuddering whisper.
Spike nodded his acceptance of the answer he had expected as he went on
in a low, measured and incredibly enticing voice,
"Well, then. Any reason you can think of – why we'd still need to rush
this?"
Buffy's eyes widened in realization of his meaning, and she looked at
him with a bit of dismay in her eyes. "Spike – please..." she said in a
voice that was little more than a whimper. "Please – I can't wait – I
need you...she – she *could* come back," she pointed out weakly. "Never
know...please..."
Spike chuckled softly, his cool lips vibrating lightly with the sound
as they came to rest on the top of her breast for a moment, before he
raised his head to meet her eyes with a wicked smirk.
"Good. Didn't think so."