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"And you know why I don't?" If Spike had thought Buffy couldn't stand closer to him, he'd been wrong. She seemed to be surrounding him when she whispered her last words, and he was taken off guard, wrapped up in the sensuous way her breathy voice affected him. "Because it's wrong," she whispered.

She simply turned around and left, and all Spike could do was stare after her feeling like he'd been mindfucked. She'd been completely different since he ran into her just moments ago, but it hadn't bothered him until she'd lowered her voice to that husky, sultry tone and told him what she could do. It was all he could do not to slam her against the nearest pillar and take her in the middle of the bloody club. All he saw was red, from rage, from lust; he couldn't seem to tell the difference at the moment. Frustrated, he threw his beer against a wall and went after her. There was no way the little bint was going to get away with this. No one teases William the Bloody like that without major consequences.

Spike spotted the petite blonde walking in the alley and kept a careful distance, watching her form, her hips swaying to some unheard rhythm. He smirked in appreciation even as his brain reminded him of how unusual she'd been acting. He recognized the difference as he began to follow her, he knew it well: arrogance. The Slayer had always been confident, even proud at times, but this unadulterated arrogance was new. He silently approached her from behind, determined to put her in her place. Grabbing her arm, he spun her around and pushed a surprised slayer against the brick alley wall. Without a word between them, he brought his mouth forcefully down to hers, trying to pay her back for his current state of agitation.

Too shocked to respond, she simply pressed her lips primly together. When she came back to her senses, she tried to turn her head, to cut of his access. He held her head still and continued to place demanding kisses on her lips. He was almost convinced of her frigidity when his work finally paid off and her lips parted. She returned his kisses almost chastely at first, then more hungrily. Her hands followed suit, snaking up his chest and around his neck, holding him to her. He allowed himself a smirk when he felt her small hands playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. I still have it.

He continued his barrage on her mouth, exploring every inch, forcing her into a kind of submission with his kisses, until he felt her hunger turn to expectation. Once he felt certain she had surrendered herself, he pulled away. He deliberately took two steps back, not even meeting her eyes. Taking his cigarettes out of his duster, he lit up and took a long drag, trying to wait her out. Spike watched her movement from the corner of his eye, her heavy lidded eyes never leaving his face. Her blonde hair was tousled from his hands running through it. The only sound either of them made was her heavy breathing, which was, sadly, waning. Spike wanted to hear more of that.

Satisfied that he had made his point, he turned to her and met her gaze. Ice blue bore into warm hazel, sending a shiver down her spine. The heat in that look alone was almost tangible to both of them, almost enough to warm his cold skin, but while Spike reveled in each second of it, he could tell the Slayer wished she hadn't given in so easily.

He finally broke the silence with another smirk and a question, "So if this is so very wrong, love, what's got you all hot and bothered?" He cocked his head to the right with a smug look that said 'I dare you to tell me that wasn't perfect.' He brought his cigarette back to his mouth, took another long drag, and waited. He liked the direction this was taking. He'd kissed the slayer speechless, which was a feat all on its own. Again, he'd noticed a change in her, in her kisses, but he shrugged it off. That army-boy probably isn't shagging her properly, he thought. He was eager to help her with that problem but he just had to wait her out…

He's waiting for me to jump him, Faith said to herself, highly amused at how hard Spike was working to seem cool about the whole thing. She was weighing her possibilities carefully. He was gorgeous, after all, and kissed like the world was ending. She held his eyes while she tried not to think of all the other things he could do with that tongue. But she had been on her way to Riley's place to have her fun with him. Faith remembered how hurt Buffy had looked when she and Angel had been kissing the year before, and was hoping to steal another of Buffy's boy-toys. Sure Angel had been acting, but Faith knew that Buffy seeing them mouth-to-mouth had practically torn the two apart.

So, what would hurt Buffy more, she thought, Screwing Riley and letting her find out, or screwing Spike and letting everyone else find out? She tried not to let the smile crack through her annoyed look as she realized how much fun being Buffy really was going to be.

"I really should be going, Riley's waiting for me," she tried to deadpan. No matter what she said, she couldn't seem to get that self-righteous tone Buffy used down. Not that it really mattered with the plan she had now. There wouldn't be much talking involved, either way. Unless you count screaming, she smiled to herself. She tried to walk past him, but, as she'd predicted, the bleached blonde blocked her path, and slowly guided her back against the wall.

Yes, this was definitely going to be fun.

She really looks annoyed with me, Spike thought as he steered her back towards the wall. So he put on his best seductive look, his head cocked to the left and looking at her through his thick eyelashes, leaned in and practically purred in her ear, "Oh, no, pet, I don't think so. You started this and you're going to finish it." Abandoning his cigarette, he began kissing her neck where it joined with her shoulder, and he felt her relax under his lips and tongue. He grinned and pulled back to look in her eyes. "Lets find out if you can really make me beg."

His eyes wanted desperately to look down at her mouth, swollen from his kisses, as the possibilities seeming reeled through his mind, but he knew how to state a challenge and looking away was not allowed.

There would be time for the possibilities later, gods willing.

He couldn't help the excitement that flowed through him, energizing him. If someone had told him two years ago he would end up in an alley making out with Buffy -the bloody SLAYER of all people! - he would have laughed his ass off. Sure, there had been that one time with Red and her 'will it so' spell, but this was real. Real heat, real passion, real need. No spells involved. As far as he knew. She is acting awfully different, and her kisses…his thoughts trailed off, but he stopped that train. He was being too paranoid and he just wanted to enjoy the moment, so instead told himself, Sod it all, who gives a bloody damn if she's kissing different? She's here, ain't she? Quit worrying and start seducing.

Faith finally let her lips curl up in her own version of Spike's seductive smile. She saw him getting antsy, getting excited, and she loved it. "Oh I know I can make you beg. In fact, there's no challenge in it for me. Why bother?"

This didn't throw Spike off as she expected and his response was just as good.

His grin widened. "No challenge, eh pet? Well, here's a challenge for you. How about you try not to beg?" He ground himself up against her and heard an almost inaudible intake of breath in anticipation. And he used it. "I mean, if just standing here, like this," he emphasized 'this' by rubbing against her again, eliciting another low gasp, "gets you moaning, just think how loud I could make you scream." His voice was breathy and quiet, equaling her tone in the Bronze. After 120 years of practice, he knew exactly what to do and say and how to do and say it. And he was using every trick in the book.

Faith reached out and put her hands on Spike's hips, running them down his backside, slowly drawing him forward. She saw the surprise on his face, even though he tried to hide it. Well, he was about to be a hell of a lot more surprised. "So this is a contest of who screams first, is it?" She licked her bottom lip, also having a great deal of experience in how to get a response from a man, and getting a low growl from the extremely aroused vampire in front of her. "I'm down with that." Spike tried to lean in to kiss her, when she pulled back suddenly. "There's just one thing I want to know." A very preoccupied Spike looked at her questioningly, "That chip in your head…does it activate if I want you to hurt me?"

Always a man of action, Spike smashed his lips down on hers roughly in response. Let the games begin, she congratulated herself. She really did love this town.

They had tried to get back to his crypt, but carrying Buffy with her legs wrapped around his waist and kissing him into oblivion had proved to be a very difficult way to walk. They'd made it to the cemetery, where they had decided was good enough, so Spike laid down his duster and the festivities had begun.

It wasn't long after she'd caught her breath that the blonde vampire watched the Slayer got up off the cemetery lawn and begin to get dressed. Spike told himself that his disappointment stemmed from wanting to have another go, not from wanting to hold her just a little longer. He felt thoroughly sated and hoarse from his share of screaming, and was a little hurt that she'd just get up and leave. True, they were lying in the cemetery naked, but still. "You're going," He meant it as a question, but he knew the answer.

"Yeah, things to see, other people to do…" Buffy threw a cruel smile his way.

"Its just that, well, I thought we could…" He wasn't sure what he thought but even if he had, she cut him off before he could say.

"We could what? Talk? Cuddle?" The vampire watched as the Slayer snorted and rolled her eyes, pulling on her boots. Spike cringed from her obvious uncaring. "Besides, I still have all this energy to burn."

Spike stood and walked up behind her, placing his hands on her hips and holding her to him. He purred in her ear, "I could help you with that, pet."

The laughter that met his remark made Spike snatch back his hands as though he'd been burned, and take a step back in anger. "Don't get me wrong, pet," she was mocking him and he knew it, making him even madder. "But I need some Riley lovin' while I'm in…well, while I can. Variety is the spice of life, you know." She finished messing with her blonde hair and was checking her lipstick in a small mirror, while Spike tried to regain control of his temper. He felt his demon fighting for dominance, but he decided playing it cool would work better for him than trying to bite her and getting a ruptured skull.

"Suit yourself, love. But when what's his height can't keep up, you know where to find me," He ran his hand down his stomach seductively and pulled at his belt buckle, as he so often did, "Satisfaction guaranteed." He gave his patented smirk, lit a fag, and began to walk away. The only thing that stopped him was the hand Buffy ran up the back of his neck and into his hair. He shivered and turned to see her pouting, that luscious bottom lip taunting him.

"What? No goodbye kiss?" Her pout turned to an evil grin as her words had their desired effect. He pulled her to him hungrily and they fought a battle of supremacy with a punishing kiss. When he finally let up, she was breathless and smiling ear to ear. "Don't worry Spikey-boy, its not that I wasn't completely satisfied, its just that Riley is waiting and I gotta save some for him. You were the main course, he's just dessert." As she was talking, her hands slid from around his neck, down his chest, around his waist and into the back pockets of his black jeans.

"When I get this chip out," the vampire replied, his voice almost severe, "I'm going to teach you what the phrase 'hurts so good' really means. Then you'll really be beggin…and I'll hurt you as much as you want, Slayer."

"I count on it." She squeezed his ass, winked, and was gone.

"Damn that girl." Spike watched her go, taking a long drag on his cig.

Walking across campus, Faith couldn't stop smiling. That had been too easy and way too much fun. A lot of her one-night stands were with barely adequate substitutes of the male race, that Xander boy for instance. But Spike was the complete opposite. He knew what to do to make her scream. And the things that man could do…she supposed it came from living several generations, he must have learned a few things along the way. She'd been right about that tongue of his, too, he'd known exactly what to do with it. She sighed quietly at the memory of him worshipping her body.

It had been surprisingly difficult to make the vampire scream; he'd had amazing restraint. She'd expected to only have to look at him with a little passion and he'd be begging for more, but instead, Faith had spent her share of time screaming, too. Will wonders never cease, she thought smugly.

Walking up the stairs at Lowell House, she prepared herself to seduce Buffy's new lapdog. Nothing could possibly be as fun as plotting to ruin your one true enemy's life, she thought. She put on her most sultry look, adjusted her cleavage, and checked her lipstick again. Satisfied with her appearance, she approached Riley's door, slid one hand up the doorjamb, and said, "You miss me?"

Riley turned from his desk and for a moment was speechless. When he recovered his voice, he said, "I did, actually." He looked her up and down, taking in the tight leather and seductive stance. "Everything's okay?"

"Everything's great." He watched her walk towards him, like a cat stalking its prey. Suddenly that's exactly how he felt. Hunted.

"What about Faith?" He was eyeing her suspiciously. She'd only been there less than two minutes, but already he'd noticed a difference.

"Faith is gone. I kicked that ass." She began to approach Riley with a self-satisfied grin crossing her face. "I came to celebrate."

Riley smiled a little, still a bit wary, but when she climbed onto his lap and straddled him, kissing him, all thoughts of worry vanished from his mind…suddenly all he was thinking about was helping Buffy celebrate.

By the time Buffy's body and Faith's mind had reached the Lowell House, Spike was halfway to the Bronze, still pondering the night's events. As much as Spike had enjoyed himself, Three times, he thought with a grin, something was bugging him the entire time. Buffy had been different, he'd noticed that right off, but the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced something was up. From what he understood from Angelus, Buffy was a very gentle, very submissive shag. But from Spike's experiences not an hour ago, he knew a whole different side to the Slayer. She'd been completely in charge, knew what she'd wanted him to do, knew just what to do to him, and she had made him beg and growl, scream and purr. And Spike rarely purred. Yet, somehow he doubted one night with that Parker bloke, or her time with Captain Cardboard had taught her those things.

Still mulling over these events, he entered the club and headed straight for the bar. He desperately needed to get pissed.

"Pretty little tequila shots all in a row…" Spike mumbled to himself a half hour later, as he picked up a saltshaker, smirking, feeling the alcohol warm his cold blood. The three full shot glasses in front of him on the bar were actually numbers five six and seven. He was thinking about Buffy again, running over what she'd said to him in the Bronze when he first ran into her.

I could ride you at a gallop till your legs buckled and your eyes rolled up. I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of. I could squeeze you till you popped like warm champagne and you'd beg me to hurt you just a little bit more.

He licked his wrist and shook the salt onto it, shaking his head and preparing for number five. The alcohol didn't dull his memory of her words and how they had made him absolutely wild. It didn't help him forget her mouth, her smell, or her taste, but, looking at the four empty shot glasses already littering the bar, he figured he'd be damned if he'd give up yet. Slamming the shot back, he willed the tequila to sterilize his mouth, to wash away everything that had made him want to find the Slayer and just kiss her into oblivion. Sucking the lime dry, Spike asked himself when he'd become such a romantic wanker.

After an intense bout of lovemaking, Riley lay silently in the bed, watching, as Buffy got dressed, thinking about her behavior. He wasn't sure why Buffy had freaked out when he said he loved her. Maybe she just wasn't ready to hear it yet, but nothing had prepared him for how she'd acted. Not to mention how she'd come at him at first, aggressive and business like. He'd honestly felt as though she was taking advantage of him. And now, ten minutes after they had finished, she was getting ready to leave.

"Was it what I said?" he asked, tentatively.

He wasn't prepared for the cruel smile that she threw over her shoulder at him. "Oh come on, sweetie, I thought 'Oh yeah baby,' was the perfect touch."

Riley was shocked at her, and stammered for a response. She'd never been so sarcastic before, especially after making love. "But, that's…that's not what I meant, and you know it." He looked down at his hands, hating where this conversation was going, but feeling helpless to stop it.

"Hmmm…" Buffy was mocking him and he knew it. "What was it that you said…Oh, you mean that whole love thing?"

"Yes that whole love thing! I can't believe you are just blowing this off."

"I'm not, Riley. I just didn't realize we were all that serious. I mean, I've never had a bunch of emotional baggage with my boy toys."

"Not that serious? Boy toys?"

Oh, how Faith loved life. She'd scared Buffy's newest fling by being too rough, then she'd gone gentle only to have him proclaim his love for her. She was sure it had been the first time he'd said it, too, and she was currently blowing the whole thing off. She was about to start talking about how much she missed Angel, and what a stallion he'd been, when another vampire and an idea came to her. Another slow smile spread across her face as she carefully shaped her next words. She looked at Riley's shocked and confused expression and tried to smile innocently.

"Don't worry, baby, I only have one boy toy," she walked towards the door to leave, noting Riley relaxing a bit. Right before she hit the door, she added offhandedly, "besides you. And I just can't decide which one to keep. So, thank you for your…input…and I will let you know by morning if you're the best man for the job."

Faith winked at him and slipped out the door. She could almost hear his jaw drop. She knew he would need some time to get dressed so he could follow her, so she walked really slowly. She was almost dizzy with her new plan to ruin Buffy's life swimming in her head. All she had to do now was find Spike for a repeat performance, this time with an audience. Being Buffy was great for her libido.

The conversation Spike was having with the bartender would probably have terrified said bartender, had this not been Sunnydale.

"…I mean, I've fantasized about snapping her pretty little neck a thousand bloody times, mate. Why should not even an hour shagging her change that?"

"It's a thin line, friend, as they say. Love and hate." The barkeep raised his glass of water and toasted Spike's eighth shot. "Can't live with 'em…"

"Can't snap their bloody necks," Spike agreed, and took his shot, now forgoing the salt and lime. When he looked up, he saw the redheaded witch talking with a girl he didn't recognize. He put a bill on the bar and stood, albeit unsteadily, all the while trying to catch the witch's attention.

"Oi, Red! C'mere, would ya?" He saw the worried look cross her face as she noted how drunk he was, but she came towards him, as did the quiet one with her.

"Uh, hi, Spike. This is my friend, Tara."

The girl looked up barely long enough to smile, and Spike vaguely wondered what her issue was. "You ladies out trolling for some male company?" he asked suggestively. He wasn't too drunk to notice both girls look around awkwardly at his words, but nothing quite connected in his head, so he continued. "Tonight seems to be my night of random shagging, so if either of you need my services, just let me know." Now Red was blushing and he felt like he was about to figure something out, but the alcohol clouding his brain whispered to him that the only thing that needed figuring out was how to get home to bed. The two girls just looked so uncomfortable and too comfortable with each other…Suddenly the weak light of a light bulb going off over Spike's head got a little brighter. "Unless, you know, you two want to be alone."

Willow's bright red face snapped up and Spike smirked at her shocked expression. "No, I just, I mean, well, we are here together, but not…"

"It's alright, pet. I won't blab if you ask nicely." He winked, "and my offer still stands you know…two for the price of one…we could have a very nice time." At this point he was just trying to embarrass her, loving how she squirmed under his gaze.

Willow grabbed Tara's hand and walked away, furious. She couldn't believe Spike. He couldn't be subtle ever, and how did he figure it out, she'd barely spoken, and Tara hadn't at all. He was truly disgusting, truly -

"You alright?" Tara's soft voice broke through her tangled thoughts.

"I'm fine, its just urgh! He's so frustrating, and I didn't want you to have to meet him at all, not to mention first, and could he have been less discrete?" She didn't mean to sound so disgusted, but she wasn't completely sure of what she wanted yet, let alone if she was even going to tell Buffy. And she was sure Spike would tell her. "He's just bitter cuz he can't kill anyone, stupid neutered…"

"Coming this way…"

"Urgh!"

"Sorry to interrupt, loves," he winked at Tara, "But have you seen Buffy tonight?"

"No, we haven't, and if you see her and say anything that has anything to do with anything about…. well, anything! I'll stake you myself."

The redhead looked thoroughly satisfied with her threat, so Spike decided it was up to him to reassure her that he wasn't going to tell Buffy anything. He sat down in a green armchair across from the loveseat the two girls occupied, and he smirked his patented smirk.

"Oh don't worry about little old me, Red. I wasn't really planning on meaningful conversation with the Slayer, if you catch me." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and waited for her to ask -

"What are you babbling about now, Spike?" He could tell she was intrigued but very annoyed, so he waited. He took out a cigarette and took his sweet time lighting it. A slow smile spread across his face.

"Well, I just mean that it's getting late, you know. And I expect she's finishing up with the enormous hall monitor." He looked at his left wrist where a watch would have been, had he actually cared about the time. "I figure she'll be looking for me any time now." He sat back in his chair and took a long drag on his cigarette, waiting for Willow to catch on.

"Oh right, Spike, because she's so into the whole 'undead' thing," she rolled her eyes.

"Actually, Red, this makes two of us 'undead things.' Besides, she seemed pretty 'into' my undead self earlier." He made a thoughtful face, as if he were seriously considering the logistics of his statement. "Or should I say, I was pretty 'into' her."

He's lying, that's what he does. There's no way Buffy would ever… Willow stopped in mid thought as she saw Buffy enter the Bronze. "Ha! There's Buffy now, so we can just ask her and you can stop lying." Relief flooded over her and she looked over at a very confused Tara. She smiled and nodded reassuringly, trying to convey that her friends aren't always so odd. "She'll clear this right up."

"Yes, she will," Spike smirked that smirk of his, that smug, 'I'm so evil' smirk. Willow smiled because seeing Buffy prove him wrong was going to be extremely amusing. Her heart skipped a beat, however when Buffy got closer. She was dressed in all black and leather and seemed to be heading right towards -

"Spike!" Faith had had a feeling he'd be at the Bronze again. He was probably already telling their secrets to the Scoobies. She grinned. It was going perfectly. "There you are, lover." She walked up behind his chair and ran a hand down his chest and stomach, all the while watching Willow's eyes widen. She could also feel Riley's eyes on her, probably widening as well.

If they wanted a show, she would definitely give them one.

All night it had been bugging him. Something was off about her, and he knew it. She couldn't be completely sane to sleep with him at all, but there she had been, bent over the headstone. And when she was so cold afterwards, just getting up and leaving, he thought she'd realized what she'd done and regretted it. But now here she was, her hand running down his chest, and Spike's confidence went through the roof, and the nagging suspicion that something was off went out the window. When he looked up and saw the two witches with four over-wide eyes and two round O's of shock where their mouths should have been, he buried the look of surprise that threatened his own features, and replaced it with smug.

Spike ran his hand up the Slayer's arm, which was still lazily resting across his chest and stomach. "Whatsa matter, kitten? Miss me?" He almost started to purr again, when he felt her placing tiny kisses on his neck.

"You know it, baby," she whispered in his ear. He took this as his cue and pulled her around the chair and into his lap. She was laughing playfully at his actions and Spike couldn't suppress the smile, the true smile that plastered itself across his face. An emotion he didn't recognize surfaced as he tickled her sides for a second, loving the way she wiggled in his arms, still giggling.

"See, you were right Spike. My toy soldier couldn't keep up," she said matter-of-factly. She looked over at Willow and Tara, their mouths still gaping and said in explanation, "He's hurt or something."

"Come back for a second helping, then?" He smiled again when she nodded, looking like a little girl asking for a lollipop. "Slayer, you are insatiable."

"Comes with the gig. But hey, that's why you love me," she purred back, leaning in for a kiss. Meeting her halfway, Spike kissed her possessively.

I could get used to this… he thought.

I don't, I can't, I wanna, I mean… Willow was thinking at the same time, confused. Then she spoke. "I don't…I can't…I wanna…I mean…" She hit herself in the forehead with her hand, marveling at her own inability to speak. All she wanted was to close her eyes, count to three, open them and have Buffy punching Spike, not kissing him. She tried this. One, two, three… When she opened her eyes, Buffy was looking at her worriedly, and Spike was looking at Buffy hungrily. She could not believe what was going on.

"You okay Wills? You look a little pale." Buffy seemed concerned, but a trace of amusement underlined her words. Maybe the whole thing was a joke. Maybe they'd set her up for a laugh. No, Buffy wouldn't kiss a man unless she meant it. Before she could stop her words, Willow started yelling.

"So does he! Pale as in dead! As in vampire! As in 'Grrrr! I'm going to suck your blood!'" She gathered up her jacket and stood up. "I'm going. And don't think I won't call your mother!" She stomped off, unsure of what to do or where to go. What is happening…?

Riley watched from across the bar as Buffy leaned across Spike, then fell in his lap, let him tickle her, and then just when he thought it couldn't get worse, they kissed. It wasn't him kissing her or her kissing him; it was a very comfortable kiss. Like a couple would kiss. And not for the first time. He felt sick.

Just then Willow stood up angrily, yelled something and stormed off. The girl that had been sitting next to her smiled apologetically at the couple in the chair and ran after her. Debating whether to follow the girls or to continue watching his girlfriend get fondled by a vampire. Hostile 17, no less! he thought disgusted. He had an intense feeling of surrealism. What is happening? he asked himself. Unable to pull his eyes from the scene before him, he let Willow and her friend leave.

"There's a perfectly logical explanation for this," he said to himself, wishing away the whole situation, but getting a headache instead. "There just has to be." And then he started ordering beers.

"Willow, wait!" she heard Tara's voice catch up to her in the alley, and she tried to calm herself before turning around. "Willow, are you okay?"

She took a deep breath and turned to see a very concerned Tara staring back. "I'm fine," she smiled, "Its just that, well, its Buffy. She's my best friend and I thought I knew her, she'd never--"

"She's not your friend." Tara said, matter-of-factly.

"Well I guess I underestimated the you liking her part."

"No, I mean she's not Buffy." Tara went on to explain about people's energies and how Buffy's had seemed fragmented.

"So what do you think we should do? Is there anything we can do?"

"There's a way we can…the passage to the nether-realm, there's a ritual, if you find her there you should be able to see…" She looked worriedly at Willow. "Its just that, the nether-realm exists beyond the physical world. Accessing it is, it's kind of like astral projection, it's very intense. I'd have to be your anchor, keep you on this plane."

Willow smiled, already calming down. "I trust you."

Still sitting comfortably in Spike's lap, Faith pulled out of a long, deep kiss and smiled at her newest conquest seductively. "That was fun."

"We can have so much more fun, love. We don't even have to bother with the cemetery this time." Spike suggested. Faith noticed that his heavy-lidded eyes never left her mouth, so she bit her bottom lip for him, eliciting a low growl from the vampire.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked, though she knew what was coming.

"There's a perfectly good bed in your ever so much closer dormitory, I'm assuming." Just what she wanted to hear. She knew Riley was still watching and if he followed them he could watch them have wild, rough, earth-shattering sex in the bed where he and his precious Buffy had made love. And that would be the end of that relationship. She began to stroke the back of Spike's neck, for Riley's entertainment, completing the picture of a couple, she hoped. She was twirling the small hairs in her fingers while he waited for her response. Faith knew it was torture for him and Riley both, but she took her sweet time responding. This was too much fun.

If she's going to do everything as slowly as she's thinking about this, its going to be a long and interesting night, Spike thought, still watching the slayer worry her bottom lip. He felt like he was going to explode and if she didn't answer soon, he was just going to -

"Can you restrain yourself long enough to make it back to my place?" she asked seductively. As if to make a point, she shifted in his lap, so she was straddling him. His thoughts were becoming disjointed as her movements drove him to distraction. His need was excruciating and he loved every second.

"Restraint is my middle name, pet." He allowed a smirk and a wink. The new game was beginning. Round two of 'Make Me Beg.' "Just don't expect any restraint when we get there. When I'm done with you, you'll never be satisfied by a human again." He intended to keep that promise, too, and thought maybe he was already on his way to doing so. After all, it had only been two hours since the last time they'd been together. Spike held Buffy's eyes with a satisfied look. She couldn't stay away.

Riley was too angry and too shocked to do anything but watch the vampire seemingly steal his girlfriend. Death plots and arguments raced through his head, but all he could do was sit and grow more irate at every new thing he saw. At first, he thought he was less than prepared to see his girlfriend straddle the vampire. Then he felt close to tears he saw her kiss him and stroke his chest and neck. But what really shocked him was when Spike stood up, still holding Buffy's body to his, her legs still wrapped around his waist, and still kissing her. He took three steps before letting her drop, slinging the smiling Slayer over his shoulder, and making his way out of the club. He doubted they were on their way to bible study.

Not twenty minutes later, across the dark, quiet, campus, the spell had been a success and Willow and Tara had seen Faith in Buffy's body. They had conjured the Katra and were on their way to Giles's apartment to work on a plan to get Buffy back in her own body, but Willow could only think of one thing.

"I knew it! I knew she'd never kiss Spike! Well, of her own free will, anyway," she said again, not catching Tara's amused smile at Willow's self-satisfaction.

Spike didn't know how they'd made it to Buffy's dorm room. He had no memory of walking the streets, making right or left turns, crossing roads, or entering the building. Most of all, he was unsure how he was fully clothed and tied to the bed, and Buffy was up walking around. He'd been sure he was good to go once they actually made it into the dorm room, and he was completely ready for a bit of hedonistic pleasure. Unfortunately, here he sat, having no sex and perfectly exasperated about it. All he wanted was to be undressing the blonde girl who was currently walking back and forth in front of him, like tiger pacing its cage. He felt like he was going to burst into flames if he didn't touch her soon, but she wouldn't come near him. She just stood there with that mischievous smile playing across her lips, and playing with the hem of her tank top. She knew exactly what she was doing to him and while he was stuck on the bed, he was planning all sorts of ways to get revenge on her. First, he would make her tremble with need and then the walls would tremble with her screams.

"Bloody hell, woman, let me up," he said, trying to keep the twinge of begging out of his voice. He raised his head and craned it to get a better view. "I can't make you scream from here, love."

Saying nothing, she pulled her top off and Spike remembered dimly how Buffy had discarded her black bra after he'd ripped it in the cemetery. But mostly his thoughts consisted of simply, "Fuck…"

Faith heard the low growl of need escape the vampire's lips and she laughed lightly, turning away from him. She hadn't had this much fun in way too long and she'd forgotten how amusing an aroused man could be. She laughed again when she heard Spike struggling against the ties that bound him to the bed. She looked over her shoulder with a look of desire, biting her bottom lip.

"Whatsa matter, Spike?" she walked over to the bed and paused about three inches out of his reach, running her hand down her bare chest and stomach, closing her eyes seductively. Smiling again, she opened her eyes, "Waiting for something?"

"You bloody well know I can't reach you from the bleeding bed. Also my hands are tied." He ground his teeth, and she could tell he was going to be fun when she untied him. But, as always, she was waiting for him to beg. She knew it would come soon, and she planned on waiting until it did.

She unbuttoned her black leather pants, meeting Spike's eye and winking. "Is it hot in here? Or is it just me?"

"Bloody hell, let me up Slayer! I can't fucking take it anymore!"

A very satisfied Faith began to run her hand under the waistband of her slacks and was about to untie him, when the ropes gave out, and before she could say or do anything, he had grabbed her and slammed her on the bed. Suddenly all thought stopped as round two began.

Riley couldn't hear what was being said from outside the window, but he certainly understood the pained look on the vampire's face. The soldier was in a whole different kind of pain, watching his girlfriend do a striptease for a hostile, but he too had noticed how uncomfortable and restrictive his jeans had become.

Buffy's new lover must have finally had too much, because the ropes ripped apart and he had her with him on the bed with lightning speed. And then he was on top of her, kissing licking and biting his path along her body. A body that belonged to Riley, or so he had thought. He didn't want to watch, but he couldn't pull his eyes away. He watched silently as Spiked ravaged his girlfriend and she ravaged him right back. He could dimly hear their cries of pleasure and pain as they did things that Buffy and he had never done together, things that made him blush, things that made him want to burst through the door and join them. Instead the Slayer's severely preoccupied boyfriend stood outside the window, watching with wide eyes and set jaw, visions of Spike's bloody and gruesome death dancing in his head.

Relief flooded Willow when she burst in Giles's door and Faith stood there. She knew it was Buffy and she was glad to know her friend was safe and not in England. After Buffy had recounted her escape from the Watcher's Council, and beginning with Buffy's body entering the Bronze, carefully skipping the saliva-exchange between Faith and Spike, Willow quickly recounted almost everything that had happened and how they'd figured out how to put Buffy back in her own body.

"Plus, she was being way friendly to Spike," she concluded.

"Friendly? How?" Buffy-in-Faith asked with a worried look.

Willow threw a pleading look at a silent Tara, who simply shrugged. Willow tried to adjust the truth, not wanting Buffy to be more freaked than she already was. Which she would be if she knew the absolute truth. "Well you know, hanging on him a bit, you know how she is about guys…a little lost puppy-ish. Spike might, you know, tease you a bit about it later, so you might want to be prepared for that." She hadn't meant to use the word 'tease' but she was fairly sure if Spike tried anything with the real Buffy, he'd be dust before he dared smirk at her. Willow grinned at the thought. That'd show him for lying like a big evil…guy…

Finally, Faith was spent. All of her energy was dissipating, and she couldn't be happier about it. It had been almost an hour since she'd been thrown on the bed by Spike, the torn ropes falling to the floor, forgotten. They had done everything imaginable, and she had been right: he was lots of fun when he got his hands on her. She laid on the bed now, catching her breath, eyes closed, and considering not going to Mexico as she had planned. Spike was so good at so many things, she'd never realized vampire sex was so satiating. He lay beside her now, watching her. She could feel his eyes studying her face and his hand tracing absently along her stomach. He was waiting. Waiting for her to react, perhaps, to see if she would get up and leave again or this time, maybe this time had meant something. She smiled to herself, loving the power she had over him. When she finally opened her eyes and met his she saw everything she had expected to see: anticipation and expectation. But along with these things there was something she hadn't thought of, behind the other emotions, almost hiding, as if he didn't want to show it.

Knowing.

He knew. He couldn't say how long he'd known, how he knew or why, but he did. It wasn't Buffy. Some sort of spell, he figured, it must be. All night he had noticed little things, insignificant things that told him that it wasn't her, and he had known. From her acting like she didn't know him when he first saw her at the Bronze to the fact that they were lying there now, together, both tired and satisfied from mind blowing sex. And maybe that was how he knew. He knew Buffy fairly well, knew the kind of issues she had with men, knew about Parker and how that had damaged her view of sex and men, and mostly he knew Buffy wouldn't have given him the time of day, let alone shagged him silly. Especially while she was still dating Riley, if ever. She was faithful and honest and pure and loyal and she was not lying beside him now. And he knew it.

And he was disappointed.

Neither of them spoke as they got dressed, an understanding having passed between them. Faith was sad that her game with Spike was over, but what really bothered her was the look of regret she saw on the vampire's face. He had really wanted it to be Buffy. Faith was unsure why this irritated her as much as it did, he was just a one-night thing anyway. She wasn't really thinking about staying around Sunnyhell just for the sex. She shook her head, trying to focus on her plan instead of the blond Brit's dissatisfaction. Besides, there was always more fun was to be had. Riley, for instance, was still watching.

She was looking at herself in the mirror, brushing her hair, when the phone rang. She momentarily entertained the thought of using Buffy's voice to piss off whoever was on the other end of the line, but let the machine get the call instead. No reason to give away her whereabouts to the rest of the world. She liked to keep them guessing. After the message and the short beep, Willow's frantic voice cut the silence.

"Buffy, if you get this, please come over to Giles'. There's a new big bad evil and it looks like a job for the Slayer. Please hurry."

Faith turned to make a smart remark about naïveté and not really knowing their friends, but when she turned, she found the door open and an empty room behind her. She shrugged and finished getting dressed. She had a Scooby meeting to get to.

Riley watched through the window as the two lovers rose from the bed, retreated to separate sides of the room and started getting dressed quietly, even frigidly. He thought Spike's current mood was extremely interesting, considering how close the two had seemed only an hour before. He seemed cold towards her, crestfallen, disgusted even. Thinking back to his time with Buffy earlier that evening, he ruled out disappointment in performance. Perhaps her dismissive behavior towards Spike caught him off guard, just as it had Riley.

As they listened to the message being recorded, Riley watched Spike slip quietly out the door, as if he were escaping. He was torn between following Spike and keeping an eye on Buffy. "Don't you people ever stick together?" he muttered under his breath, as Spike passed by him, also talking to himself.

"…And now that stupid bloody army reject will probably stake me and for what?" He stopped long enough to light a cigarette and continued on his rant, "I mean, The Powers were really fucking with me this time. 'Here you are Spike, enjoy it while you can, it turns back into a pumpkin at midnight!'"

Riley didn't even realize he was following Spike until he tripped over a curb.

Faith took her time getting ready to go over to her new Watcher's apartment. She had noticed Riley's face was no longer watching from the window, and she enjoyed the idea that he was going to kill Spike. All this for little old me, she thought with a smirk her recent lover would have appreciated. She tried to imagine Buffy's face, My face, really, when she woke up in England, surrounded by the Watcher's Council and sentenced to life imprisonment. Looking in the mirror, she tried a few expressions of horror and surprise, and then shrugged. Doesn't matter anyway. I'm going to go kick some demon ass, and then I'm off to Mexico in the morning. Outta this sleepy little prison forever. The smile that cracked the face she saw in the mirror grew, and a laugh that didn't belong to her rang out.

"Guess you don't really know someone 'til you've been inside their skin," she told Buffy's reflection. She stood, kissed the face in the mirror, laughed again, and smashed the offending mirror on her way out the door.

Spike made his way slowly off campus, towards Giles' apartment, feeling highly irritated and grumbling to himself. If he, a lowly vampire, greatest enemy to the slayer, had figured it out, how could her friends have overlooked it? That was the irritated. It made him think a little too hard about how much attention he was paying her. "Bloody curses. Shoulda known it's the only reason she'd kiss me. Only reason she did before." That was the grumbling.

Just then he heard a noise behind him, like someone catching their balance so they wouldn't fall. He knew it was Riley, had known the brassed off soldier had been watching all night, just as Buffy had.

"Not Buffy," he reminded himself under his non-breath. He stopped in his tracks, sighed and said, louder so Riley could hear, "Its not Buffy you know." He waited for a moment, for the other man's response, when only silence greeted the pallid vampire, he continued. "I know you're there, Whitebread. You might as well drop the co-op." He wasn't surprised at all when Riley came out, stake in hand. "What's this? Suddenly the Initiative has a stake now-ask questions later policy?"

"No. I don't plan on asking any questions. All my questions were answered by you on top of my girlfriend." His tone was cold and murderous, but Spike was not afraid.

"Oh, yeah. That. What's wrong, Iowa? Jealous? It's really sad you know, when you can't keep your woman happy. In the sense that she is completely unsatisfied. You know, sexually," he drawled, knowing Riley was just getting more and more angry, but he wanted someone else to be as pissed off as he was. "Listen, mate, it's not my problem if Buffy needs a little extra on the side."

Riley stepped up and pressed his stake to Spike's chest. "No, that's not your problem. But it is your problem when her boyfriend and his army find out, hostile." He spat out the last word, and Spike just smirked in response.

After a tense moment of silence between them, Spike gave in, mostly because he didn't want the stake in Riley's hand to slip and dust him on accident. Or on purpose for that matter. "It wasn't her. It wasn't Buffy."

"Right. It was what? A look alike that lives in her dorm? A robot perhaps? Tell me another one Spike. Actually, don't. Lets just get to the you dying."

Riley pulled back the stake to take a swing, but Spike ducked, regretting his inability to kill the man on the spot, and settled for tripping him. "Pillock," he grumbled as he ran off.

While they waited for Faith-in-Buffy to show up, Giles continued to question her counterpart, still not quite believing what was happening, while Willow and Tara looked on, amused.

"And you have a girlfriend named Olivia and you have a tattoo on your arm from that Igor guy - "

"Igon."

"Whatever, and when I could hear thoughts last year, I heard my mom think that you were a stevedore during sex. Do you want me to go on?"

"Actually I beg you to stop."

"What's a stevedore?"

"Dear god…" Giles took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Where's my scotch?"

Suddenly, there came three short raps on the front door. They shared an uncomfortable look and began to report to their positions. This was it. Buffy got behind the door, the conjured Katra already in hand, and got ready to pounce when her body came through the door. When she was in position, she nodded and Giles opened the door.

"Giles, I came to warn you. It's not Buffy; it's not your Slayer that's on her way here. I don't know who it is or how I know, I just - " Spike stopped talking when a girl, Buffy's age, with long dark hair, large brown eyes, and lips Spike couldn't take his eyes off of stepped from behind the door, closing it. When he did look up, a very familiar annoyed look was on the strange girl's face, and suddenly everything clicked. "Slayer? Is that you?" Spike looked her up and down favorably. "Like the look, pet. Leather works for you."

Buffy-in-Faith turned to Giles. "How the hell does Spike know it's me, but you don't?"

"I must say I'm not sure. This is very puzzling indeed."

"Well let's puzzle later and prepare now, shall we?" Spike broke in. "I'm guessing whoever's body you've got on has yours, so what do we know about her?"

"Its Faith. Rogue slayer, doomsday co-conspirator, and bitch extraordinaire."

"Willow!" A pleasantly surprised Buffy exclaimed.

"Well, its true," she said shyly, then turned back to Spike, "She switched bodies with Buffy so she wouldn't have to go to England with the Watcher's council." She leaned in, smiled at Spike, and said conspiratorially, "I knew she wasn't into you."

Spike rolled his eyes, but couldn't completely suppress a smile. "So I'm not bringing any new information, then?"

"Not a bit. We have a plan and everything." Willow continued to look smug.

"Right, then. I'm so glad I could offer absolutely no help." Spike turned to leave, stopping to talk to Buffy. "You know…" he said, still admiring her form, "Your honey still thinks its you. He couldn't tell." He winked. "See you around, pet." He walked out of the apartment feeling completely satisfied.

"What was that all about?" Buffy asked, a severe case of the wiggins evident in her voice. She had so much to worry about still, and adding Spike's psyche to the mix was not going to help. She silently hoped that Faith hadn't gotten her hooks into Riley, but from what the bleached blonde vampire said, it seemed highly probable. She scowled. He was probably just messing with her.

Suddenly, the door started to creak open and Buffy instinctively hit the floor, rolling behind the couch. Spike's arrival had thrown them all off, and it seemed that Buffy's surprise attack was having a drastic change in strategy.

"So what's the hubbub? What evil is rising for my bad self to take down?" Buffy heard her own voice, cold and arrogant, as Faith entered.

Faith looked around at all the faces that greeted her inside the Watcher's apartment. They mostly all looked surprised to see her and Faith's slayer sense told her something was wrong. "So we gonna discuss the big bad that Willow called me about, or are we going to stare at the Slayer's new clothes?" She eyed them all warily as they shifted in their seats and looked away uncomfortably, all obviously trying to come up with something to say. Now she was getting pissed off. Something was up and it seemed to be a plot against her. "Okay, spill. Who's gonna tell me why I'm here if its not to kill something?"

Suddenly, Faith's body stood up from behind the couch. She was frozen for a few seconds, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Then she heard her own voice, mixed with Buffy's trademark sarcasm. "Its not so much you getting to kill something. Its about me getting my body back," she put one finger to her temple, as though she were thinking very hard about something. "Although, who knows where its been these past twelve hours."

Without a word, Faith-in-Buffy turned and started for the open door behind her. Giles jumped at her from her right, but Faith grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him towards Tara and Willow, who were coming at her from the left, knocking all three to the ground. Buffy jumped over the couch, ready to pursue her body wherever it might go. Just as Faith was about to cross the threshold, however, Spike stepped in front of the door. Unable to stop herself, she ran directly into the vampire and both of them hit the ground outside the door.

Looking up from underneath the Slayer again, Spike grinned, "Well, well, well, lookie what I found. Fancy another go, love?"

With a disgusted expression, Faith struggled from his grip and stood up to escape, with Buffy's body. But there Buffy stood, a smirk to equal Spike's plastered across Faith's own face. Before Faith could stop it, Buffy had grabbed her and a green glow shone from between their clasped hands.

"Time to give up the prize," Faith's voice said, but in a flash her face changed and it was Buffy's visage that looked back at the confused rogue slayer. The energy of the Katra doing its job pushed them apart forcefully, knocking them both back on the floor. Buffy, back in her own body, was still rubbing her head when Faith rose from the floor and finally made her getaway.

Buffy looked over at Spike who had sat up and was now leaning against Giles' doorway. "Thought you might need an extra pair of hands, so I stuck around," he looked at her scrupulously, as if trying to figure something out. "It is you in there isn't it?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and went inside to check on the rest of the gang.

It feels so good to be back in my own body, Buffy mused, on patrol the next night. Walking through the cemetery, she tried not to think of anything except the cemetery that surrounded her. She still hadn't talked to Riley about what he may or may not have done with Faith. Actually, she had been avoiding his calls altogether. She found she didn't want to know and she was fairly sure if she saw or spoke to Riley, he would tell her. She wanted nothing more than to get on with her life, so here she stood, trying not to feel like a stranger in her own body, reacquainting herself with her senses, feeling the cool air on her skin, smelling the fresh cut grass and the crisp night -

Cigarette smoke?

She whipped around at the strong scent of tobacco and old leather only to see a very cocky Spike leaning against a tree close-by. His pale skin almost glowed in the moonlight and she watched his eyes move up and down her form slowly and let that slow smirk creep across his features. She could tell he was going to say something irritating, just by the look of him. Plus, he was always saying something irritating.

"Lonely, pet?" He ran his tongue across his lower lip making the question oddly seductive.

She shook her head as if to clear it, and tossed Spike an annoyed look. "Go away Spike."

The gang had mentioned that Faith had taken a liking to Spike while in her body, so she was prepared when he continued to ogle her, continued to talk to her. She was convinced Faith had done this on purpose, just to annoy her. It was just like her to use her time in Buffy's body to ruin her life. "Oh, come on, love. Don't waste that precious breath trying to get rid of me when you know you want me to stay."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Why would I want you to stick around? Why don't you split before I am forced to stake your annoying, British, Billy Idol-wanna-be-ass." She turned, satisfied with herself, and started to walk away, but stopped in shock when she felt his hands slide around her hips from behind and pulled her to his lean muscular body. She gasped. The guys had not prepared her for this. Her mind was screaming at her to pull away, to run away, to kill Faith for whatever she'd done with Spike, but she could only stand there, frozen by his careful touch. His thumbs hooked into the waistband of her jeans, rubbing them in small circles on her skin. Finally she found her voice. "Spike," she began, her voice much breathier than she'd meant it. This is Spike, evil, big-bad-murdering vampire! her brain continued to shout, but her body was quietly whispering to her Just wait and see what he can do with those hands, though, and that tongue.

"Yes, Slayer? Were you saying something?" By then he was kissing her neck, his words muffled against her skin.

"You can't…we shouldn't…"

"Shouldn't what?" He asked, right in her ear, his voice low and seductive. "We're just -" he flicked her earlobe with his tongue and smiled at her gasp, "-talking."

Buffy was about to argue that point when one of his hands slid up her stomach under her tank top and resumed the circles there, while simultaneously, he began to kiss, lick and nibble her earlobe. All the while his body continued to press against her. All thoughts escaped the Slayer for a few seconds, but when she noticed one of her arms had found its way to the back of the vampire's neck, holding his mouth to her exposed jugular, she regained control.

She pulled away, taking two steps and turning back to the man who had, in less than two minutes managed to arouse her more than Riley had been able to in the last two months. Every part of her body ached to go back to him, to get a real kiss from him, but one word kept floating through her mind. Murderer. When he began to speak again, she raised her hand to silence him.

"No, wait, let me think." She tried to organize her thoughts. Pros and cons. Pros? Sexy Brit. Nice accent. Obviously wants me. Nice body. Stamina to match mine. Cons? Murderer. Vampire. No soul. Riley. "Riley!" She almost shouted at him, satisfaction apparent on her face. "Ha! I can't do this because I have a boyfriend. So there." She crossed her arms over her chest, where his gaze kept wandering. He met her eyes and ran his right hand down his chest and stomach, to his belt buckle, where he let it rest. Then, he chuckled.

"Didn't seem to bother you yesterday." He watched her eyes widen and he took a drag on his cigarette, finishing it and flicking away the butt. All the while watching her think about what he had possibly done with her body. He watched her expression change as her imagination produced scandalous images of Slayer and vampire doing things that would make a prostitute blush. He took the time to reminisce a little about what had actually happened. When he felt she had few good ideas, he let the other shoe drop. "Either time."

Her jaw dropped and she began to stammer. "Faith, that was Faith, not me, you slept with her, not me, you know that."

Again that self-satisfied look, but Spike was ready for it. "I know." He broke eye contact and fished his smokes out of his duster. He needed a stiff drink before he said what he wanted to say, but nicotine would have to do. He was taking his time lighting up, thinking about what to say, but suddenly the words fell from his mouth in a swift jumble. "I was drunk and I wanted it to be you so much, but I knew something was off. I knew it wasn't you."

"Well it wasn't me. So what makes you think you can touch me like that? What makes you dare?" She tried to sound mad, he could tell, but instead the petite blonde sounded like a child threatening to go tell mommy.

Again their eyes met, his glimmering with hope, hers with confusion. He took a long drag off his cigarette before he spoke. "I was hoping…well, honestly I was hoping your body would respond to a familiar touch." He approached Buffy slowly, as he spoke, his pace in his step keeping time with his words. "I was hoping that it would remember the pleasure…. remember who had brought that pleasure." With his last word, he arrived right in front of her, and cupped her cheek in his hand, caressing her soft skin. "Do you remember?"

He watched her close her eyes, in reflex, then when she realized what was happening her eyes shot open. But it was too late and Spike's mouth came down on hers with an untold heat, a desire she had never thought he could possess. He demanded entrance to her mouth, which she hesitated to give, but when she did, she kissed him back hungrily.

When the kiss ended, Buffy's eyes remained closed and she was panting slightly. He watched the emotions play across her face. First the residue of passion, followed quickly by anger, then the confusion, and finally resolve.

When she opened her eyes, Spike's blue gaze stared right back at her, waiting for her answer, hoping for the right one. She knew what the right thing to say was, she knew what she had to do. She took a deep breath and started.

"Spike, I'm sorry. I can't -"

"It's alright, love. No excuses. No apologies." He took his hand from her face and looked at her as if trying to memorize each detail. "Goodbye, Buffy," he said quietly. Then he turned to go. Spike had never called her by her right name before and it felt really strange. Somehow, she wasn't annoyed at all. Shaking her head and changing her train of thought, Buffy sighed in relief, amazed that he'd taken her rejection so well, so calmly. Usually he whined, got mean, and then got violent. She watched for a second as his dark form sauntered away, wondering exactly what had happened the day before between Faith and the bleached vampire. Whatever it was, it seemed to have affected him a great deal. She turned and began to walk away as well, when she heard his voice again, and stopped.

"One thing bothers me still, Slayer," Spike said, continuing to nurse his cigarette, leaning on the tree where she'd first spotted him. When she turned and shot him a questioning look, he took a last drag and tossed the second cigarette butt on the ground. "See, you keep saying you can't because I'm a vampire, because I have no soul, because you have the soldier boy, whatever. Thing is, pet, you've never said no because you didn't want to. Never pushed me away and said you didn't want me. Only that you couldn't, that you shouldn't. Figure out what you do want, would you love? I'll be around when you do." He turned and started to leave again, but called back over his shoulder, "At least think about it."

And with that, without letting her respond, he left. Walking away from her was liberating, because he knew she would think about it, and about him. A lot. He smiled a true smile and lit yet another cigarette.

THE END