PART 4 - A Lick and a Promise
Xander swallowed. His body was tense. He felt the unyielding lamppost
pressing against his back, cutting off his retreat. Spike was kneeling next to
him, firmly holding his head between his hands. Hands that felt icy on Xander's
burning skin. They were mere inches apart, staring at each other. Inhaling each
other's scent.
The vampire smelled like leather, cigarette smoke and whiskey, not
sweaty but a bit spicy. It was a masculine smell but not unpleasant. An
observation Xander clamped down on, immediately.
Xander was enveloped by a multitude of scents: chocolate, whiskey,
aftershave, sweat, a hint of Anya musk, not to mention real blood. *Mouth-watering,*
the vampire thought.
Spike looked at Xander's familiar face. Worried brown eyes, lips that
were slightly parted, cheeks that were flushed. *Kissworthy, yes... shagworthy, too.*
The thoughts in Xander's head were much more jumbled. It was as if many
voices were babbling at once. Most of those voices were decidedly drunk. *This
is all about avoiding the hospital.* - *Yeah, tell yourself another one.* -
*Ew, I don't believe this.* - And a silly voice, shouting *All hands
brace for impact!* - *Shut up,* he
scolded himself. But underneath all that confusion there was another, a much
more quiet part of him, that was almost trembling with anticipation, that was
mesmerized by the hunger behind those dark blue eyes.
For a few heartbeats they just stared at each other .
"What are you waiting for, Dr. Fang?" Xander said, when the
silence became too charged. "A written invitation?"
"Seeing if you'll change your mind again. Don't want another punch
in the nose, do I?"
"Well, lick me already," Xander said impatiently. *I can't
believe I just said that.*
Spike inhaled audibly.
Blushing violently, Xander added quickly: "And that came out a lot
more suggestive than it sounded in my head!"
"Right then." Spike tilted the boy's head slightly, breaking
their eye contact and leaned closer. It required all his self control not to
press himself against the warm human body.
Spike suppressed a shudder. Perhaps he should cast all restraint
overboard. *He got ME drunk, not the other way round. Shouldn't play with
fire, like that.* The only thing that kept Spike from grinding his raging
hard-on against Xander's waist, was the fear of messing up big time, like when
he had chained up Buffy. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but it had
turned everybody against him, when what should have been kept private reached
the Scoobies' ears. *Oh no, not another dose of everybody-hates-Spike!*
Not when he had just reached a kind of friendly truce with them.
Actually, there was another reason why he didn't just pull the stops. He
wasn't sure he could deal with Xander's rejection spelled out to him in all its
spiteful and cutting detail.
Reigning in his demon and slamming the brakes down on his mounting
desire, Spike brought his mouth to Xander's face.
If Xander had expected the vampire to lap like an animal, in quick small
strokes, like cats did when drinking milk, he was mistaken. It was more like a
close shave in a very long stroke that started at the chin and traveled all the
way upwards to the split brow. Xander felt like his heart just missed a beat.
"Hey!"
"What?"
"The cut's not at my chin!"
"...and you wanted to wipe your face clean with what? Your sleeve?
Shut up, Harris."
Another stroke. "Whoa! That tickles!" Xander felt Spike's cool
breath on his temple. *And feels kinda good, too.*
"Shut up, Harris," the vampire replied softly. He began to
concentrate on the injury. He tried to be careful, not just because he didn't
want to set off the chip again, but also because he didn't want to freak the
boy out. *Don't scare the kid!* Spike reminded himself. *He mustn't
think I'm losing it.* But the taste... He had always thought that the scent
of terror was the perfect seasoning for a perfect meal. But feeding off a
willing - *well, sort of* - person - even without penetrating the skin
with his teeth, well, a fellow could get used to that...
Xander suddenly realized that the hand that was holding him was curling
slightly, ruffling his hair. This was seriously beginning to freak him out. *Hey,
the guy doesn't need to breathe, so why is he panting like that?* But he
knew the answer to that already. Xander was drunk, okay, but not too drunk to
notice, if someone was seriously hankering for his body. The realization that
the vampire was all hot for him, sent a shiver through him.
Stroke. Spike felt the young man tremble, ever so slightly. He could
also smell Xander's arousal. A hand
touched his shoulder uncertainly. The boy made a move as if to push him away
but then his fingers tightened on the leather of Spike's duster, as if to pull
him close. "I always knew you'd find a way to try and get a taste of
me," Xander babbled nervously, totally unaware of what his hand was doing.
"Shh, pet."
Spike dimly realized that his ministrations were having an effect,
because the flow of blood became a mere trickle. This was good because he felt
his self-control crumbling rapidly. *Oh God!* He was horrified by the
raw need that threatened to overwhelm him. It made his canines ache, but he
realized it wasn't hunger for blood. Whatever it was, it made him quake and for
a moment he didn't know if he yearned to kill or yearned to die. Then his sense
of self-preservation kicked in, and the last vestiges of pride joined in. It
didn't matter if Xander knew that he wanted him. He was a vampire, for God's
sake. He could be hot for whoever he liked. Sod everybody! But Xander could
never know just HOW MUCH the vampire wanted him. Spike didn't think he'd be
able to bear the humiliation.
He was relieved when the bleeding finally stopped. *Thank goodness
for that! 'Cause I don't know how long... * He swallowed. He fought to
control his features, then he pulled back, with a false grin on his face. He
snapped back into his former crouch and let his hands drop to his thighs.
"Done," he said. He cleared his throat. "See, you're not
dead or turned..."
The two men looked at each other
for a few heartbeats. Then they suddenly spoke at the same time.
"Okay, that was gross," Xander said.
"I think I prefer pig's blood," Spike lied.
Xander tried to get to his feet. There was this sudden urge to get away
from this lamppost and everything that had happened here. *Nothing happened!
Nothing at all.* He still felt dizzy. He saw Spike standing up, too. The
vampire reached out half-heartedly to help him up, but Xander automatically
turned to the lamppost to support himself. It was so much easier to deal with.
Spike flinched almost imperceptibly and ran his hand through his hair, instead.
But Xander had seen the vampire's reaction. *Did I just manage to
insult him without even trying? Hey, that's... not good. Actually, it's kinda
scary.* He took a deep breath, trying to come up with something
sufficiently normal. "Man, I know you're Mr. Evil and all, but next time
you see me walking into an unyielding obstacle, give me a warning, 'kay?"
"Oh, yeah, so it's MY fault, you knocked yourself out? What else is
new?"
Xander stepped away from the lamp. "Okay, let's go."
"Where to?" Spike asked.
"Actually, Spike, I just wanna go home. My head hurts. I'll come by
tomorrow to pick up my cooler and stuff. Blackadder will have to wait." *And
I'll need time to digest this, whatever 'this' is.*
Spike shrugged. "Yeah all right, let's get you home in one piece.
You might want to take a cab, you know. So, the nasties can't bite you. All
that blood on your clothes yells 'eat me'." *And wouldn't I just like
to take you up on that...*
"I never knew you cared," Xander said teasingly.
"Well I just don't want the witches to fry me should something
happen to you. Not looking for a fiery ending, just yet," the vampire
replied, slipping easily into the old banter.
They walked towards the center of town, talking about movies as if
nothing had happened. The vampire saw Xander safely into a cab, lit himself a
cigarette and headed home.