Title: Afterglow30/57 NOT a work in progress

Author: T. Claybourne  (t.claybourne@yahoo.com)

Rating: Rated R most chapters for violence and Language, some are NC- 17 for sexual content

A/N I'd like to thank my Beta Reader Hawera And muses Michelle Branch, Robbie Williams and Evanescence

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Afterglow Chapter 30 Summer Storms NC-17

How can you see into my eyes, like open doors, leading you down into my core, where I've become so numb, with out a soul, My spirit sleeping somewhere cold, until you find it there, and lead it back home wake me up, wake me up, call my name and save me from the dark, bid my blood to run, Before I've come undone, save me from the nothing I've become, now I know I'm with out, you just can't leave me, breath into me and make me real, Bring me to life Evanescence

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Mia sat in the window of Giles' flat. The sill was deep and the panes reached almost to the ceiling. She was watching the remainder of sunset. This was her sunrise and she loved watching it happen. The sun was now low and glowing orange, but angry dark clouds of a storm were rolling in, distorting it, and Mia could smell the approaching rain. Her window was open and a breeze blew her hair. She drew her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs.

Suddenly there was a flash of lightning. She gave a small smile. Not much made her smile these days, but the beauty and ferocity of a summer storm had always excited her.

After the flash, Mia counted out until she heard the rumble of the thunder. The electricity, the real passion of the storm was very close.

"Something deadly, but very beautiful about a storm," came a familiar voice from the entrance.

Mia turned, and there in the doorway stood Xander. Mia swore if she'd had a beating heart it would have stopped. He looked so good, and until that moment she hadn't admitted to herself how very much she had missed him.

"Just like you, Mia."

Mia couldn't draw breath, which made it impossible for her to reply.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

She just nodded. Finally she drew in some air. "Xander, what are you doing?"

"That's really my question to you."

"What?"

"What are you doing? I heard about your plans."

Mia looked out of the window. Another flash of lightning lit the dusk.

"It's better for everyone."

"Right; and the fact that you can't look at me when you say that. It means, more like, that it's better for you and the hell with everyone else."

Mia looked at him. "Why does it matter? I mean..."

"It matters, Mia, because I love you."

"Xander!"

"Alright, I tried being patient and that so didn't work, so this is what you get, me in your face."

Mia got off the window sill. "It's the tough guy routine then."

"No, this is me. No routine, no act. Me, pissed off."

Mia walked up to him. "How pissed off? Did you bring your stake?"

"Pretty pissed off and no stake. That would kind of defeat the purpose. You've decided to leave, and I think that entitles me to a little anger. Especially when I know it's because you're just afraid."

Mia turned and flopped on the couch, "Please."

"Right, so you aren't afraid that you're not good enough at this job, or that you might hurt me emotionally or, even worse, physically."

Mia didn't speak for a minute. "Spike?" she asked, in an exasperated tone.

Xander smiled. "Partly. He told me about your dreams, and I'm going to tell you those were my fault. When I found you in Amsterdam, you were almost completely bled dry; Spike said you could have brain damage. You kept spitting out the pigs' blood, so I cut my wrist and fed you. You didn't even drink enough to make me woozy. Mia, you wouldn't even hurt me with no blood in your body. You controlled your demon even then."

He watched her blink. He wasn't sure if she was holding back tears or if it was just in disbelief.

The light grew dim around them as the sun set fully. Mia lit a few candles as the darkness grew. She couldn't stand any harsh artificial light right now, not after what Xander had just said.

Xander sat on the other end of the couch and faced her. He watched as the candlelight played across her face. That's when he realized she'd changed her hair. It looked the color of cola when the light hit it.

"God, but you're gorgeous."

"Sorry, but that won't work, Xander. You can't just show up and tell me I'm gorgeous and hope to change my mind."

"It wasn't to change your mind, it's because you are gorgeous. Is it the demon that's making you so cynical? But I won't lie I do want you to change your mind. I love you and I want to share my life with you. I know you are scared by all this, but if you'll let me I want to help you through that. We can do it together. As I see it, you became a vampire and kind of lost who you were, then just when you thought you'd figured it out this stuff in Amsterdam happened. You're feeling lost again but you're not, Mia, you're just untethered right now. I want to hold your loose ends for you. I think I can if you'll just let me. But, there is risk on your part. It's a big terrifying risk, but I figured that with you being a vampire, the terrifying thing might be something you can do."

Mia got up and walked to the window, looking out. "What makes you think you can just come here and say all this and expect me to...? Things have been decided."

Xander walked to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Then undecide them. My morning coffee has been so not the same without you."

Mia gave a short laugh.

Xander turned her from the window and looked in to her eyes. He began to lean towards her but she pulled back.

"I can't do that. I have to think about all this. I'm not saying anything has changed, it's just thinking."

"Yes, just thinking," nodded Xander. He turned, wandered over to the mantle and looked at the sword in its stand. "What's this? Does it belong to Giles?"

"It's mine for now: I'll give it to Buffy when I leave."

He turned and gave her a lifted eyebrow. "Can I check it out?"

"Go ahead."

Mia watched as he pulled the scabbard from the stand and the sword out. It made that beautiful singing sound and Xander's mouth came open.

"Where did it come from?"

"China. Late Ming dynasty"

"I meant how did you get it?"

"Oh, um, Angel, he sent it, he wants me to stay and not give up."

"Wow, imagine that I have something in common with dead boy."

"Dead boy?"

"Oh yeah used to irritate the hell out of him, you know how I love to oblige in the irritant area."

Mia smiled, "For someone who never wears a cross, you are very lucky when it comes to your harassment of my kind."

Xander put the sword back.

Mia took out the paper work and handed it to him. "You have to look at this."

Xander sat down on the couch and Mia went to the refrigerator.

"Want a beer?"

He nodded; she cracked it open and handed it to him, took one herself and sat on the other end of the couch.

"You are kidding me. If Spike see's this he will.... damn, what do you think he will do?"

"He's wouldn't recognize the sword. I mean, that was over a hundred years and two Slayers ago."

"Kind of inconsiderate for Angel to pick that exact sword, don't you think?"

"Since when do you worry about how Spike will feel?"

"I don't, just saying."

The two of them talked easily for the next couple of hours. It was almost as if they hadn't been apart.

It was about ten o'clock when Xander stood up. "Well, I have to go see if I can find a place to stay tonight; either that or I'll be bagging it in the van."

His hand was on the door knob when Mia spoke up. "Xander, you can stay here tonight. I'll take the couch and you can have the bed."

He turned and looked at her. "No, that wasn't part of the plan, Mia; I'll just go get a room at a B and B."

"Stupid to spend the money."

"If I do stay I'm not putting you out of your bed."

"It's my place, at least right now, and you'll sleep where I say. I don't have to worry about turning over that much. Besides, I just put clean sheets on there this morning."

"If you're sure."

"I wouldn't offer otherwise."

Xander brought in his small duffle bag, and after a couple of more beers he headed off to bed.

~ ~

Mia sat in the window again, the storm had passed. The air smelled clean and new now. She thought about the feelings the sight of Xander had evoked. She had felt lost after Drusilla had made her what she was until she decided to come here. And once she got here she had felt real hope. Xander was right, she was just a bit off course and drifting. Mia closed her eyes and remembered Spike telling her how lonely the life of a slayer had been for Buffy, how she had always ended up in the dark alone. She felt like that, but she was doing it to herself. Mia decided that if she was any kind of vampire at all she needed to face her fears.

Standing next to the bed, Mia watched Xander sleep. The light from the clock radio lit his face. She bent over and pushed hair from his forehead. His eye opened.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes," she answered.

He sat up slowly. "Then..."

"Can I sleep with you?"

He pulled back the covers and his eye searched hers. "I told you before, anytime."

Xander expected her to turn her back to him and spoon but she faced him.

Mia kissed him. "I love you, Xander."

"Come again?"

Mia leaned forward. "I said, I love you, Xander."

The look of surprise made her grin. She put the palm of her hand to his face.

"I want you to be the one holding onto my loose ends. I want you to share my life and I want to start right now."

Mia kissed him and with one hand ran it up the crotch of his pajamas.

Xander caught her hand. "Wait a minute. Is this a dream, because if I wake up and this actually didn't happen I'll..."

Mia used her mouth to kiss his jaw and down his neck and along his collarbone. "It's real, I'm real, see."

Mia leaned back and unbuttoned her nightgown until it fell away. She placed Xander's hand on one of her breasts. "What do you think?"

"What do I think, I..." Xander kissed her deep and hard.

His tongue probed her mouth and his thumbs made circles around her nipples until they were hard. He leaned down and suckled one, then the other. He grew hard as he heard Mia moan. Each moan seemed to pump more blood into his erection. He began kissing down her stomach as she reached for him. She pulled at him to come back up to her.

"Xander, I'm sorry I can't wait. I need you inside me right now, please."

She pushed at his pajama bottoms and he helped her. He entered her: she was cold and wet, but warmed up immediately. With each thrust she grew hotter. Xander watched as she threw her head back. Her muscles pulled him in, the rhythm more intense and different than anything he had experienced before. She made noises that nearly sent him over the top. He felt her peak and her juices flood over him, but they were cold and helped him to continue. Mia began all over again and began to tighten up. She gripped the pillow. It became difficult for him to thrust and he almost experienced pain until suddenly there was a release, a brief cold wetness and a contracting around him. He yelled out as he released himself into her.

He collapsed on her but then tried to roll off. She stopped him.

"No, you can't squish me."

She wrapped her arms and legs around him. Xander finally got his breath back, and turned them so she was on top. The move made Mia laugh.

"Mia, was that... um... twice for you?"

She kissed him. "Yes."

"Oh well, that's good then."

Mia kissed him again. "Were you worried?"

"Maybe a little. I mean, your last lover was a vam..."

Mia put her finger to his mouth.

"We are never going to talk about our past lovers when we are in bed together. And Xander Harris you were, well...Hey, what is that I feel? How did you do that? Humans don't usually do that."

Xander grinned, "Well what do you know. How did that happen?"

Mia laughed, "I don't know but I like it." She started to move up and down on his newly hardened shaft. "I like it a lot."

~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~

Buffy snuggled against Spike on the couch. They were sitting in front of the TV watching an old movie.

"So, what do you think happened?" asked Buffy before she realized she had.

"What, love?"

"With Xander, what do you think?"

"Do I think he has it in him to convince her?"

"Well, um..."

"He had something in him to make her fall in love with him, so yes, he does. In fact, I have a feeling she's changed all her plans."

"Really? So what are they doing now?"

Spike picked her up abruptly and started towards the bedroom. "Same thing we should be doing...shagging."

"Oh, Spike, such a romantic."

"I'll show you romance, Summers." He threw her on the bed and jumped on after her.

"Think he threw her on the bed like that?"

"I think we are through talking about them!"

"But I ..."

Spike kissed her hard. "I'm only going to tell you this once, so never bring her up again in here. She probably threw ...him... on the bed, and hard."

Buffy laughed. "And Xander probably liked it."

Spike sat up.

"Hey? What are you doing?" asked Buffy.

"You just ruined the moment."

"Did I?" Buffy asked as she stood in front of him and pulled her shirt off, then let her skirt drop. "Anything I can do to change that?"

Spike stood and traced his finger down her breast. "This is helping."

Buffy pulled at his shirt and Spike took it the rest of the way off. He struggled to push off his boots. One of Buffy's eyebrows went up just before she put a hand on each of his hips lifted him up and threw him hard on the bed. She dived, laughing, to straddle him. Spike was laughing himself.

She kissed him down his chest until she reached the waistband of his jeans. Running her tongue along the inside of the band caused him to harden immediately. She moved back up to his mouth and nipped at his tongue. Her hand moved up and down the length of his hardness on the outside of his jeans. She bit his shoulder and Spike flipped them so he was on top. Buffy unbuttoned then unzipped him and pulled his erection into her hand.

Spike heaved in an unnecessary breath. Buffy managed to push his pants down his hips as Spike sucked on her nipples. She was already wet, and before Spike could stop her she had shoved him inside her deep warm self. Buffy hooked her legs around his waist and hung there and with her hip muscles alone pulling him inside her over and over again. Spike rocked, helping to increase the friction, and Buffy threw her head back, a harmony of oh's coming from deep in her chest.

Finally, her ecstasy became so great that her muscles began to loosen too much to continue. Spike grasped her shoulders, steadying her and began thrusting to continue the rhythm. Buffy yelled out again and again with each thrust until she hollered his name and released a warm liquid around him. Spike had only been waiting for her and grunted with his own release. He fell to the bed, pulling them to their sides.

Buffy blinked and smiled. She put her hand to his cheek. "I like it better this way."

"What way is that, love?"

"With the love. It's better than when it was just sex."

Spike smiled and kissed her. "That's true, Slayer. Want to see how much better again?"

"Depends. Can we try it with you throwing me on the bed? I want to see what the difference is."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Willow checked the answering machine, no calls from Xander, but three from different foremen. One said that he had been waiting to hear from Xander for the last four days. That was it, she decided: she would call him. She dialed Xander's cell and heard it ring upstairs. He had left his cell phone here. Her only remaining option was to call him on Mia's cell phone and she didn't look forward to it. She and Mia had exchanged some rather frosty words about Xander on their way back from Amsterdam, but she really had no choice now, so she would do it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Xander sat on the couch, reading the paper. He wore his pajama bottoms; in fact he had only been in truly proper clothes once, to take Mia to get her final check-up from the doctor. He'd never been the type of guy to walk or lie around naked, whereas Mia had no problem in walking all over the place with no clothes on. That didn't bother Xander in the least either. Well of course, he had a permanent hard on, but she was taking care of that on a regular basis too. Life here in Bath was mighty good.

Mia came from the bedroom with a robe on.

"Hey, what are you doing? You're wearing a robe. I like you better without."

"I know you do, but we need variety, and I like to be unpredictable."

Xander pulled her onto his lap. "I like predictable." He kissed her neck. "How about you lose the robe and..."

Mia's phone rang as it sat on the coffee table. She answered it, and handed it to Xander. "It's for you, Willow."

~ ~ ~

"Hey, Will"

"Xander, do you realize you left your phone here?"

"No, but it's not that big of deal."

"Well, I have three messages from foremen wondering where you are. One says he expected to hear from you four days ago."

"Right, well, I've been busy."

"I've been worried. There's been no word from you."

"I'm fine. Better than fine."

~

Mia got up and walked into the other room.

~

"So, you couldn't call?"

"Well, like I said, I've been kind of busy."

"I remember that kind of busy, and you have to stop to, ah, to eat, pee and catch your breath. You could have called then."

"OK, Will, my bad. Sorry."

"When are you coming home? What do I tell these foremen?"

"I don't want to come home."

"Xander."

"I'll talk it over with Mia, and call you."

"Yeah, you do that."

"Willow, this is a good thing. Be happy for me."

Willow's voice softened a little. "I am. I guess I was worried, and you were off having, well never mind. I miss you."

"I'll call you and tell you the plans."

"OK. Bye"

~ ~ ~

Xander stood up and walked into the bedroom. Standing there, fully dressed, but with wet hair, was Mia, packing a bag.

"OK, wait just a minute; the robe was bad enough. Now there are a lot more things covering you."

Mia gave a short laugh. "It was Willow, and she wants to know when you're coming home, right? It's time, Xander. The doctor said I was good as new four days ago. I've been at full strength for over a week now and we should go."

Xander pouted, "I don't want to. I'll have to share you."

Mia walked up to him, and putting a hand at either side of his face she kissed him. "Only during the day."

Xander closed his eyes and thought of the nights. "How do you do that? Four words and I'm..."

He picked her up and took her to the bed. "I don't care if you did take a shower, you should have cleared it with me before you did."

"Oh, really?"

Xander pulled her jeans from her and began to unbutton her blouse. "See this, all this work you are giving me? This is the problem with you wearing clothes."

Mia laughed and kissed him. "But I like how you take them off."

"Yeah, well, get used to it."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Girls, please try to use your sodding brains. You need to block and duck. It's not a block-and-stand-there type of move."

Spike moved down the line of slayers.

"Stephanie, come to the front, pet, and let's show the others."

Buffy came in as the 11 year old slayer demonstrated the move, followed through and managed to knock Spike down.

"Right, thank you ever so, Stephanie. Truth is she couldn't have done that if she hadn't ducked. Let's try it again."

"She's really good despite being so small." Buffy grinned at Spike

"That's what I used to think about you," smiled Spike.

"Used to?"

His eyebrow went up, "Yeah, used to. Now I need you to remind me every night just how really good you are."

Buffy grinned and lifted her brows quickly. "You're bad."

"Big Bad and vampire, remember."

Buffy shook her head as she gave a short laugh. "Willow called. They should be on their way home right now. "

"Did she say how Mia was? Is her strength back to normal?"

Both her eyebrows went up. "Got plans I should know about?"

"Just wondering if she'll be back to teaching tomorrow."

"You really hate the Watchers' class."

"Hate's a strong word. No, wait, it's bloody accurate."

"They aren't so bad. They just need a little patience, which of course ... never mind, you have none of."

"That, and they seem to respond to you women."

"No, it's just that this class responds to you and your gorgeousness much better."

"Please."

"Look at them; if looks could kill I'd be a dead woman."

Spike glanced at the class. He looked back at Buffy and raised his scarred eyebrow.

"They can think whatever they want, because you're all mine, baby." She stood on her toes and kissed him. "Now, don't spend too much time in the office after class, I have very big plans for you tonight, big bad plans."