Buffy stretched as she began to wake up, but stopped when she encountered cool skin. She snuggled in close to her vampire and began dropping open mouthed kisses around one pec and the nipple in the middle. When she reached the nipple, she blew across it, causing it to harden exactly like hers did.

Spike growled, making Buffy giggle. "Better not start something, pet; not if we're ever going to get out of bed today to go out with the Scoobies," grumbled Spike. He was happy to hear the Slayer laughing. "You need to get up and put on some party clothes."

"Gotta go see Giles first." Buffy flopped over on her back. "Gotta let him know that, yes, you have the Gem, and no, I'm not taking it away from you. That should get me a rant and a lecture."

Spike pulled her close to kiss her on the forehead, his hand caressing her breast. Then he pushed her away and gestured she should get dressed. He watched as she hopped out of bed lithely, all golden skin and sunshine. He knew he would never get tired of watching her supple body perform even the most mundane tasks. Her voice broke him out of his wanton study of her body.

"Red undies or black undies, baby," Buffy asked him, holding a red bra and thong set in one hand and a black one in the other. Spike put one arm behind his head and stroked his bare chest with the other as he decided which one he liked best.

"Red. Definitely red, kitten," he answered as he watched her put on only the thong part of the set. Buffy pulled a black spaghetti strapped shirt from her drawer and put it on. Then she grabbed her favorite black leather pants from the closet. She knew in the back of the closet was the silky see-through red shirt her mom had gotten her a few months before. She had never worn it as she hadn't really the occasion to, but Buffy knew Spike would love the look. He always wore a long sleeved red shirt over his black t-shirt.

When she turned around, she was positive that he liked what she was wearing. Spike was lazily stroking his cock. Buffy gasped, her pink tongue darting out to lick her lips. She slinked across the room to settle on the bed next to him. Spike removed his hand from his hard on and put it behind his head, too. Buffy put her hands on him and began to stroke him, double fisted.

"Let me help you with your big, bad problem, baby," she whispered just before she leaned down to lick the precum off the head of his dick. Spike closed his eyes and moaned. They popped back open when he felt her rake her teeth softly up and down his length. His hands moved towards her but she shook her head and they fell against the bed.

"Playing with fire, luv," he gritted out between clenched teeth. Gods, what a woman! Spike's head slammed back into the pillow, his eyes falling shut. His hands knotted in the bedspread.

"Fire pretty," Buffy murmured as she engulfed his cock with her mouth. She lovingly attended him till he was a puddle of vampire goo on her bed. Buffy decided to be daring so she took her mouth away from his cock but continued to pump it with one hand. Looking up at his pleasure filled face, she took the chance that biting him elsewhere would give him pleasure. Buffy zeroed in on his inner thigh, biting down hard. Spike half sat up with a roar, his cock spilling forth his cold seed almost immediately.

Buffy pulled away from his thigh, grinning. "Like that?" she asked.

Spike could only nod as he fell back on to the pillow. He lay there bonelessly, unable to move from the pleasure his golden goddess had given him. Spike felt Buffy rise from the bed and heard the water running in the bathroom. In a minute or two he felt warm, wet terrycloth wash this abdomen and torso, cleaning his spendings off of him.

"I could look at you all like this all night long, baby, but we have to get a move on," Buffy whispered near his ear. He opened his eyes to look at his ladylove. Spike knew she was right. He reluctantly sat up. Buffy handed him his jeans. He slipped them on, buckling his belt. She tossed him his t-shirt and kicked his boots to him.

Buffy pulled a pair of her own boots out of the closet and tugged them on as Spike finished dressing. In a matter of minutes, they were both ready to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike and Buffy were surprised to find Willow and Xander waiting for them in the courtyard outside Giles' apartment. When they explained they were there to give Buffy support when she informed Giles about the Gem of Amara, Buffy was extremely grateful. She hugged her two best friends. Spike indicated that he would smoke a cigarette and keep an ear out on the conversation, coming in when he felt it was time to announce himself. Buffy nodded, then leaned in for a bone-melting kiss. Willow and Xander watched with wonder at the giddy smile that bloomed on Buffy's face.

Buffy pulled away from Spike to sweep towards Giles' apartment with Willow and Xander following in her wake. She knocked loudly on the apartment door before barging in without an answer. Once inside the teenagers settled into chairs to await the fallout.

"So, what's the what, Giles?" asked Buffy, trying to play it innocent. If Spike was going to get an invite Buffy knew she was going to have to rile Giles up. She knew from experience nothing yanked his chain faster than indifference, pretended or otherwise.

"Did you discover if Spike has the Gem of Amara?" Giles asked patiently. He looked up from the book he was reading to see Buffy chipping the polish on her fingers and Willow and Xander playing thumb wars. Sometimes he thought he needed to get a life, hanging around teenagers was putrefying his brain cells.

"Yup, Spike has the Gem-thingie," replied Buffy.

"And, did you get it away from him?" Giles asked, a little less patiently. He swore sometimes his Slayer was the most stubborn person he ever had the displeasure of knowing.

"Nope," Buffy answered. She moved on from chipping her nail polish to pulling on the lint off his couch.

"Why not, Buffy?" Giles practically roared, "With that gem he will be practically invincible. The book clearly states that stakes, holy water, crosses, and sunshine won't hurt any vampire wearing the gem." Giles was getting perturbed with Buffy's careless attitude. Sure she got the job done, but sometimes it seemed like she just didn't take her duty seriously.

"No need to worry about Spike anymore, Giles. I have the problem all taken care of," Buffy informed him. She could feel Spike getting restless outside.

"So? He has left town? And why are you two being so quiet? What aren't you telling me?" Giles's voice got louder and louder till he was shouting. Buffy's vagueness was wearing thin, and the other Scoobies were never this quiet. Especially Xander. The idiot boy had usually interrupted several times by now with his inane and inappropriate comments. Giles knew something was up.

"Nope, Spike hasn't left town. I am just not going to worry about the gem thingie tonight, Giles. I have a date with my new boyfriend." As she said that, there was a knock at the apartment door, "There he is now. Would you let him in, please?"

Giles rushed to the door and flung it open, not even looking at who was on the other side. He was in full rant mode. Nothing was going to stop him. Giles had both barrels loaded, ready to empty them at the Slayer.

"Come in!" Giles roared, "Buffy, how can you take this all so lightly? Spike is dangerous without the gem. With it in his possession there is nothing stopping him from killing you. You're being very remiss in your duty."

"Glad to hear you think I'm dangerous, Watcher. Means I've been doing my job right," Spike commented, sauntering into the apartment. "Thanks for the invite, by the way. Slayer, Red, Whelp," he greeted them.

Giles was doing a darned good fish out of water impression as he watched Spike greet the other occupants of the room. He was even more gobsmacked when Buffy pulled Spike down to sit beside her on the couch, their hands entwined. He whipped off his glasses to polish them and muttered a few 'Good Lord's. It was then that Xander finally spoke up.

"See Willow. I told you. No fainting, just glasses polished and a few Good Lord's. You owe me five bucks," Xander told his friend. On the way to Giles', they had discussed what they thought would happen when the Watcher found out about Spike and Buffy being together.

"Spike is your new boyfriend?" Giles asked, incredulously. He just couldn't seem to wrap his mind around the idea.

"Yup," answered Buffy.

"SPIKE is your new boyfriend?" Giles asked, again.

"YES!!!" answered Xander and Willow, who then looked at each other and said, "Jinx." They both started to giggle.

"Spike is your new BOYFRIEND?"

"Yes, Watcher, I'm the Slayer's mate," answered Spike. He looked at the teenagers in the room and raised an eyebrow. They just shook their heads.

"I think we broke Giles, guys," whispered Buffy. The four of them glanced over that the Watcher. His eyes were glazed over, his mouth hung open and his glasses were smashed in his hands. He was apparently catatonic at this point. Buffy and Willow hurried over to help Giles sit down, while Xander poured him a glass of scotch. Spike just sat back to watch the chaos. When the strong alcohol hit Giles's throat it woke him from his stupor.

"Mate? What do you mean mate? Buffy, what on earth have you done?" sputtered Giles, "What did you do to her, Spike?" He was sure he knew what had happened. His Slayer had been claimed by and mated with William the Bloody. One of the worst vampires in the Council's history.

"Didn't do anything the girl didn't want done, Watcher. All feelings and actions were done of her own freewill. She's mine now and there is nothing you can do about it," Spike informed the other man.

Spike heard Buffy and Willow giggling and noticed them glancing his way. When he looked over at them he saw Buffy had her hands out in front of her as if measuring something. They giggled again, but when Xander looked over at them Buffy quickly put her hands behind her back and tried to look innocent. Spike was happy to see even amidst the chaos Buffy was still able to remain happy.

"I suppose you better tell me how this happened, Buffy. Willow, if you would be so kind as to get my spare pair of glasses out of the side cabinet drawer," said Giles.

Willow hurried to do as he asked. She just hoped that Giles didn't do anything to piss Spike or Buffy off. Willow wanted Buffy to remain happy.

"Not sure it's any of your business, Giles. It is kinda private, yanno? Suffice to say, when Spike claimed me, the Slayer claimed him," Buffy announced before returning to Spike's side. She took his hand in hers, using the other one to stroke the back of his hand.

"The Slayer, Buffy? What do you mean? Where is my notebook? I need to write this down," inquired Giles, looking around for a pen and his notebook.

Xander found both and handed them over. He sat down beside Willow, trying to stay out of the way of the fallout, but he did give Buffy a covert thumbs up sign while Giles was flipping through the pages of his notebook.

"You won't be informing the Wankers of the Slayer and me mating! They would probably just come over here and exterminate the bunch of us," Spike advised the Watcher. Giles looked up and nodded. He didn't want to lose Buffy anymore than Spike did.

"Buffy, you were saying the Slayer claimed Spike? What exactly did you mean?" Giles focused his attention on Buffy. Giles observed Buffy was looking up at Spike from under her lashes with a small happy smile on her face. He glanced over at Xander and Willow to see what their reactions were, and saw they were looking at the blonde couple with the same expression on their faces

"I don't know exactly what happened, Giles. When Spike claimed me, I went all Slayer-y and claimed him back. He didn't even have to tell me what to do; I just knew. Maybe you need to research it," replied Buffy. She glanced at the clock. It was getting close to time to get to the Bronze. They hadn't even mentioned Riley or Professor Walsh. "That's not all we need to tell you. At class today, the teacher's aide made me feel all wiggy. Spike noticed it, too. Then Professor Walsh acted weird when she met Spike. She asked if he was a vamp."

Both Spike and Willow nodded in agreement before Spike spoke up, "Yep, the git made my senses go on alert, too. Has a human heartbeat and all. Didn't get close enough to actually smell him. And the professor bint? Really strange."

"Oh, that's what I needed to tell you guys." Xander snapped his fingers. "Boss said we are doing a construction job at Lowell house the week after Halloween. Redoing their game room. I can sneak a peek around the frat."

"You be careful, Xander," Willow gasped, "We don't know what's going on with them."

"Don't worry so much, Wills. I've been a Scooby for three years now and I am still alive," Xander assured his friend. He didn't notice Buffy and Willow rolling their eyes at his last comment.

"Hey Dingos start in twenty minutes. We need to get there if we want decent seats. You need anything else, Giles?" Buffy jumped up, dragging Spike to his feet. Giles just waved her away, not even looking up from his notebook. The teenagers and vamp were almost out the door when Giles asked a question.

"The professor? What happened?"

"She asked me if I was a vamp. She was quite sly about it, too. She knows more than she lets on about Sunnyhell's nightlife."

"Really? How fascinating," replied Giles, going back to his notebook. The teenagers and the vampire made their escape before Giles could come up with anymore questions to ask. They hurried into the dark, ready for a night of fun. They were going to make up an odd bunch when they finally got all together. A vampire slayer, a vampire, a witch, a werewolf, the zeppo and an ex-vengeance demon. Only in Sunnydale.

~~~~~~~~~~

Spike, Buffy, Willow and Xander walked into Bronze to find Anya already at a table waiting for them. Oz was on stage doing some sound checks. The girls all settled into chairs around the table, while Spike and Xander took drink orders and headed off to the bar.

"So, Buffy, that's the new boyfriend Xander was telling me about. He looks like he could give amazing orgasms. He isn't human, is he?" asked Anya.

"Yes, that's Spike and no, he isn't human. He's a vampire," replied Buffy. Anya was going to take some getting use to, but for Xander she would do it. He accepted Spike, the least she could do was accept Anya.

"So, you and Xander are dating now?," asked Willow.

"I think we are. We had great orgasms earlier. Then when I ran into him again, he was nice and invited me here for drinks." Anya was making every effort to act as human as possible, but she wasn't sure she was getting the hang of it.

"Um, that's good. I'm...I'm sure...Xander could use some orgasms," replied Willow, not quite sure how to reply to the blunt woman sitting at the table with them. Thankfully, Spike and Xander were back with drinks. Spike settled into a chair next to Buffy, lounging bonelessly, his arm thrown around the back of her chair, playing with her hair. Since Oz was on stage, Spike motioned Willow to scoot closer and he threw his other arm around her chair. Xander sat next to Anya and mimicked Spike's pose. After a few minutes, Spike leaned in to whisper into Buffy's ear.

"I remember the first time I saw you, luv. Dancing here in the Bronze, the spotlight on you. I knew I had to have you. Little did I know exactly how I was going to have you." Spike's lips moved in to lightly caress Buffy's ear, his tongue rimming the outside. Buffy giggled and batted him away.

Anya and Xander danced. Willow and Xander danced. Willow, Anya and Xander danced. Buffy was having a heck of a time talking Spike into getting up to dance with her. He kept muttering that dancing was undignified for a master vampire of his caliber. Finally, Buffy whispered into Willow's ear to ask Oz for a slow song. Willow went over to whisper in Oz's ear and soon the singer was announcing the next song was dedicated to Spike and Buffy. Spike grimaced but allowed the Slayer to drag him to the dance floor for one dance. A slow dance. Buffy put her arms around Spike's neck, laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

I love him. I love Spike, she thought to herself, slightly surprised. She knew he made her happy, but she hadn't realized she loved him.

Of course you do, luv, who can resist me? echoed through her mind. She pulled away and looked at Spike's face. He just smirked and pressed his lips against hers. Spike had been surprised when he could hear Buffy's thoughts. He knew that they would be able to feel each other. Maybe send pictures through the claim, but to actually hear each other? Wonders never ceased.

When the song ended, the blond couple wandered back to the table. In a few minutes they were joined by Oz. When Willow had mentioned that Spike would be joining them tonight, Oz had been more than a little surprised, but being the stoic guy was, he didn't even raise an eyebrow. Now, faced with the reality, he took a little sniff. Nothing different about the vampire, except his and Buffy's essences were now combined.

"Hey! Oz has a gig in LA tomorrow night. The band is leaving later tonight," Willow piped up proudly. Oz just nodded his head.

"Oh congrats, Oz. That's great news," said Buffy, before peeking at Spike's face. She knew what she was thinking. "Oz, if you run into Angel, don't mention Spike. I don't want Angel running in to rescue me from something that's frankly none of his business and I don't need rescuing from, anywa:y." Oz nodded his head again, knowing just what Buffy was implying.

Xander leaned forward in his chair and said, "Next order of business, Halloween. Last two years have been a bust. Let's do something fun this year."

"My friend Edward's frat is doing a haunted house." Oz finally broke his silence. Everyone at the table with heartbeats decided that sounded like a good idea. Spike just put up his hands in a 'whatever' gesture. He knew he wasn't dressing up and there was nothing anyone could do to change his mind. As soon as he thought that, he could feel his mate smirk through the claim. When he glanced over at her, she put an innocent look on her face. He had no plans to give in on this subject.

"We should do a theme," Buffy enthused, "What do you think, Spike?" She pouted prettily at her mate.

"I am not dressing up for Halloween, Slayer, and there is nothing you can do to convince me otherwise," Spike stated, crossing his arms in front of him, practically pouting himself. Buffy thought it was adorable, which caused Spike to raise his eyebrow at her. The others watched the byplay with interest. Always before, Spike was quick to anger when crossed, but now with Buffy he seemed to flirt and not take offense.

"I know! You could go as Dracula," Buffy suggested.

"No bloody way am I going as that git. Not only is he the Eurotrash of vamps, poncy bugger owes me 11 pounds," growled Spike. He glared at Buffy, who started to giggle uncontrollably. "Only thing I am willing to go as is Spike, so the rest of you gits will have to dress up according to me."

"Oh that could work. Really it could. Oz and I could go as the wolf man and mummy. Xander and Anya as Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein," Willow suggested, "Sorry, Buffy, ran out of ideas what you could be. I would suggest Bride of Dracula, but I don't want Spike to growl at me."

"No, not as any of Dracula's brides either, Red," muttered Spike.

"Dracula has more than one bride?" asked Xander.

"Of course he does, Xander," stated Anya, "He wanted me to be one of his brides, but of course, I had to decline. Being a vengeance demon, he wasn't able to thrall me." Anya was happy that she could give some of her vast knowledge to the group.

"Well, guess I will just have to surprise you with my costume choice, then, huh?" Buffy said, airily. The group chatted for a few more minutes, until Willow announced she had an early class and she needed to get back to the dorm. Spike and Buffy decided to escort Willow back to the dorm since Oz needed to get the band equipment loaded in his van for the trip to LA.

Anya told Xander she wanted to go back to his place for more orgasms. Xander looked embarrassed as hell, but allowed Anya to drag him out of the club. He waved to his friends before they were out the door.

Willow and Buffy wanted to hit the bathroom before the trek back to the dorm, so they left Spike alone at the bar. The girls came back out to find Spike pressed against the bar fending off an amorous female vampire who didn't know she was an ex already.

"Blondie Bear," Harmony's shrill voice grated on everyone's nerves, "Did you kill the Slayer? Why didn't you come back to the lair? I was waiting for you." Harmony pouted. She figured that was going to be the easiest way to get her errant lover to go hunt with her and then back to the lair for loving. She was surprised when she heard a growl behind her. She whirled to see the Slayer and that nerd, what's her name, standing a few feet away.

"There's the Slayer, Blondie Bear. You get her, and I'll get the little nerd," Harmony screeched her already shrill voice getting shriller. When Spike made no moves towards the Slayer, Harmony whirled around to stare at him. She was confused by Spike's actions. "Blondie Bear, what is going on?" she whined.

"Step away from the vampire, Harmony, and you won't get hurt," Buffy growled, "He's mine." With that she flipped her hair back and away from her neck, exposing the bite marks. When Harmony saw the marks, she launched herself at Buffy.

Spike reached out to grab a handful of the female vampire's blonde hair in one hand. When he had her against him with his other hand around her throat, his demon out, he hissed in her ear, "Slayer is mine, as I'm hers. Best remember that, Harm. I'll not allow you to hurt her in anyway. You'll find I'm not very forgiving."

Harmony whimpered in terror. She knew that Spike wasn't kidding. Harmony could feel the menace in his voice and his body language. She nodded her agreement. Spike thrust her away from him. Harmony hopped up and stormed out of the Bronze muttering, "Slayer-loving freak!"

Spike looked at Buffy and Willow, allowing his demon to melt away. ,"So ladies...back to the dorm for you, Red. Then you and I can go patrol, Slayer," announced Spike, then he leaned in to whisper in Buffy's ear, "And we can find somewhere private."

Buffy arched an eyebrow at her mate and clearly stated, "There will be no crypt sex for this Slayer. You better find a nice place."