Author's Note: Yes, this is indeed the final chapter of 'Forbidden'. Many, many thanks to those of you who reviewed! And be sure to keep reviewing to let me know whether you think this ended right. This chapter is dedicated to all my multiple-reviewers. You guys are the best!

Previously: Do you remember the beginning, or has all that juicy Spike action wiped your mind clean (or dirty, as the case may be...)? If you (correctly) gave the second answer: weird woman granted Buffy's desire and transported Buffy naked into Spike's bedroom. Knowing that she only had to say the word 'forget' and Spike would never remember what had happened, Buffy let herself go wild. After hours and hours of earth-shattering sex as well as a bit of sweet love making at the end, the gorgeous duo finally fell asleep in each other's arms. And now the conclusion:

7. Of Things to Come...
 

The first thing Buffy was aware of when she woke up was the warm, hard body pressed against her back. She murmured contentedly as soft kisses were planted down her neck and across her shoulder. Her mind struggled for a minute to remember where she was and who she had spent the night with.

The answer had just barely come to her when Spike lifted up one of her legs to wrap it around his thigh and then slipped inside of her from behind.

She let out a gasp as her aching void was filled once again to completion.

" 'Morning, luv," Spike whispered into her ear as he thrust into her yet again.

"Mmmm...'morning," she sighed, bucking her hips in time with his and allowing him to plunge deeper within her.

He kept his pace slow and sensual, dragging out this climax as long as he could.

"I never tire of you," he told her. "I could spend eternity with you, and I still wouldn't've had my fill."

"Me neither," Buffy grabbed hold of his wrist and guided his hand to her breast. He cupped the soft mound in his palm and began to gently play with its sensitive peak. "But we don't have an eternity..." she sighed.

"We could," he suggested softly.

"No," she replied firmly. "I can't let you..."

"I know," he buried his head in her hair. "You don't have to worry."

"I'm not," she admitted and then cried out as his latest push hit her most tender spot. "Oh yes, right there!" She fell back against him in ecstasy.

"Cor, luv, you're so hot and tight," he whispered raggedly as her muscles began to spasm around him.

And then the waves of pleasure overtook him as well, and he roared as his shot his seed into her, his eyes flashing yellow.

They both came down gently this time and just lay in each other's arms for a few minutes before either spoke.

"You have to leave now, don't you?" Spike finally uttered the harsh truth of the situation.

She nodded mutely, and he kissed her hair lightly, reassuring her.

"I have school and my friends and...well, slaying..." she began.

"It's all right," he soothed her. "I understand."

"And I don't even know where I am... I mean, that portal could have dumped me halfway around the world, or—" Her eyes widened at the sudden predicament she could be in.

"Shh, luv. We're in Sunnydale," he informed her.

"What?!" She spun around to face him. "I thought I told you never to come back here!"

"I was just passing through on my way to LA," he insisted, raising his hands in front of himself defensively.

She gave him an incredulous look.

"...Where I was going to kill Peaches," he added.

Her expression turned several shades more disbelieving.

"I was going to stop by and kill you on the way back," he finished, shrugging nonchalantly.

She couldn't help but smile slightly at this. "Now I know I've got the whole truth," she teased.

"Believe it or not, I do do things besides trying to kill you," he sulked.

"Oh yeah, like what?" she prodded.

"Like...trying the kill the Grand Poof?" he finally supplied after much thought.

She couldn't help but giggle at this. "You really need a life."

"Well, yeah...I'm dead."

"Urgh!" She smacked him in the head with her pillow. "Bad pun! Bad!"

He grabbed hold of the other end of the pillow, and they struggled over it for a while, rolling on top of each other and stealing kisses in between. Only when the pillow finally rested under Buffy's head did they pick up their mutually dreaded conversation.

"It's already three in the afternoon," Buffy gestured to the clock. "We slept most of the day."

"And you probably missed class," Spike added.

"Uh-huh. And Will will be worried about me, and..."

"You have to go," he finished for her.

"Yeah..."

"I won't be able to do it now," he abruptly informed her.

"Huh?" she looked at him blankly.

"Stay away," he clarified. "I can't do it, not after what happened here last night."

Merely utter the command 'forget' and he will never be the wiser. The words of the until-recently-forgotten woman flashed through Buffy's mind.

"Are you going to try to kill me?" she asked hesitantly, blocking the decision from her mind for the time be.

He sighed and collapsed back against the snow-white sheets. "Don't know, pet," he finally admitted. "It's who I am. It's what I do. But..."

"But?"

He turned his gaze back to her, and that vulnerable insecurity was present against in the sapphirine depths of his eyes. "Last night changed things," he explained so softly she could scarcely make out his words. "You can't say that it didn't mean anything to you?" He tone was imploring at the end.

"It meant something," she assured him.

"I don't know if I can kill you now," he confessed.

Merely utter the command 'forget'...

"Me, either."

"So, where does that leave us then?" he demanded.

"I don't know," she admitted softly.

"Yeah, well..." He looked as though he were about to say something important for a second but then brushed it off. "You need to get going," he abruptly reminded her.

"Oh...right!" She got out of bed and looked around the room. "Uh-oh, my clothes have still vanished," she realized.

"I'm sure we can find something for you to wear," Spike threw on a pair of jeans and got up to help her.

They searched through drawers for a few minutes before they came up with a pair of sweatpants and a baggy blue sweater, both of which were too big. However, after much rolling up of sleeves and pant legs, she looked pretty normally dressed. A pair of old sandals from the previous owner in the closet fit her well enough for the walk home.

"Well, then...yeah," Buffy smiled weakly.

Merely utter the command 'forget'.

"I just wanted you to know..." Spike ducked his head bashfully. "Well, I..."

"Yeah?" she inquired gently, catching hold of his chin and forcing him to look into her eyes.

"Well...last night was..." She gestured for him to continue. "...Probably the best thing that's happened to me in a good long while," he rushed the rest of it out. "I haven't really been happy since Dru left, and well..."

She shushed him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

Command 'forget'!

"Spike..." she began slowly.

"Yes, luv?"

"Well..." she steeled herself up. Command 'forget'! "Well...goodbye, Spike, and..." Forget, forget! "...And I'll see you 'round."

With that she stepped out his door and into the daylight.

"Goodbye, luv," he called back, "and I'll never forget last night..."

She flashed him a brief smile and shut the door behind her.

"Never..." he sighed, leaning his forehead against the wooden door and trying to absorb all that had happened.

"See, I told you it would work," the raven-haired woman said, gazing into the pool of water before her and checking up on her work from the night before.

"I would have sworn he would just kill her," Whistler shook his head in disbelief as the scene faded before his eyes.

"You are quite the fool when it comes to reading the human heart," the woman gloated, a lilt of laughter slipping through her soft accent, "as well as the demon heart."

"You were lucky this time," the garishly dressed demon waved his hand dismissively. "It was just as likely that she would've erased the entire incident from his mind."

The woman threw her hands up in the air in disgust. "I will never know why they allowed you to handle the Angel situation. It's a miracle the Balance has not been shattered to pieces the way you work!" she exclaimed in exasperation.

"And you think this will restore it?" Whistler retorted incredulously. "This is William the Bloody we're talking about!"

She shook her head. "You obviously have not been watching this one closely enough. He has the potential to be a great ally in keeping the Balance. And the first and largest step was taken here tonight."

"So you say," Whistler crossed his arms and cast a glare in his rival's direction.

Spike pulled his duster down from the fan and sniffed the distinctive smell of his and Buffy's sex buried deep in the leather. Taking it with him, he crawled back into bed. He grabbed hold of a pillow and wrapped his body around it, drinking in the memory of their night together.

At that moment, he knew he had been right before.

An eternity of her wouldn't be enough.

All he had gotten was a taste.

And now all he could think about was coming back for more...

With a lightning-quick snap of her arm, the stake plunged deep into the vampire's heart, and the twelfth one of the night exploded into dust. After all, a happy Slayer was a productive Slayer.

And this Slayer had just had the biggest happy of her life.

And knowing the persistence of the man who had given her the happy, she would be in for many more very soon...