Xander's
favorite part of Christmas had always been the cookies. The girls teased him
about it, and he allowed it, letting everyone think that he was just being Xander.
It'd never bothered him that no one really looked beneath the surface. Hell,
he'd worked hard most of his life to make sure they didn't.
Not
that he had anything really horrible to hide. Xander knew that there were
plenty of people in the world who'd grown up in households way worse than his.
He'd never gone to bed with bruises, not really. Maybe occasionally his dad
would get a little frustrated and grab his arm a little too hard. But he'd
never really hit Xander.
And
he'd never gone to bed hungry. Never mind that he'd had to make his own dinner
more often than not.
Xander
loved his mom, he did. He knew that she'd done her best. And it hadn't been all
bad; it wasn't until after his dad had lost his job that things had started
going downhill. Xander's mom started going out almost every night, probably
because his dad spent most of his time passed out on the couch. But there had
been good times, too.
He
remembered Christmases with colorful decorations and gingerbread cookies baking
in the oven. The scent of them still made Xander smile. He and his mom had
always decorated the first cookie together. The last real Christmas he
remembered, or at least the last one he wanted to remember, was nearly a dozen
years ago now. But it was filled with the laughter and smiles that he liked to
remember best.
Xander
bought gingerbread cookies every year, trying to hold onto those memories. He'd
never told anyone that they were his favorite, not even Willow. For some reason
it just wasn't something he'd wanted to share. He'd wanted to keep those few
good memories for himself.
Until
now.
It
finally felt right to start some new traditions. He patted the dough down just
as the instructions said and divided it into three parts. Whether the cookies
came out warped or burned or exactly right, he'd have some new memories to go
with them.
"Smells
good, luv," Spike said, wrapping his arms around Xander's middle and nuzzling
the nape of his neck.
"Are
you talking about me or the cookies?" Xander laughed.
"Both."
Spike scraped blunt teeth against Xander's skin, making him shiver. He felt Spike's lips curve into a smile, and,
like always, it brought forth a matching one from Xander.
Almost
six months with Spike and Xander still couldn't believe that he was, well,
happy. Spike made him happy. He made Xander feel important. It'd been years
since he'd had that.
Oh,
Xander knew that Willow and Buffy, and probably Giles, all cared. Of course
they did. But they didn't think he was anything special. Not really.
Spike
did.
He
turned in Spike's arms, careful of his sticky hands. "Dough's ready to go
into the fridge," he murmured, leaning in to press a quick kiss to Spike's
lips.
"Mmm,"
Spike hummed against Xander's lips. "I love the scent of ginger. My Nan
used to make the best gingersnap biscuits."
"Yeah?"
Xander grinned. Spike didn't talk about his time as William very often, so it
always left Xander feeling warmed all over. It's why Xander had shared his own
secrets. "I don't think these are going to be as good," he added
ruefully.
Spike
lifted one of Xander's hands to his lips and slowly sucked in a gingerbread
dough flavored digit. Xander shuddered, his cock twitching as Spike's tongue
slid along his finger. "Tastes good to me, luv."
"You
shouldn't do that," Xander protested weakly. "It's got raw egg in
it."
Spike's
brow shot up as he favored Xander with an amused look. "I'm a vampire,
Xan. Don't think I have to worry about bacteria."
"Oh,
yeah," Xander whispered, brain going a little fuzzy as Spike suckled on a
second finger. "Spike."
"Xan,"
Spike teased as he licked at the pad of Xander's finger.
Xander
groaned. "The, uh, dough has to refrigerate for at least three
hours."
Spike
laughed. "Yeah?"
By
the time Spike had licked all of Xander's fingers clean, Xander was hard and
aching. Xander shifted his feet apart, allowing Spike to press closer and rub
teasingly against him. "God," Xander sighed. "I can't even think
when you touch me."
Spike's
grin was cocky, but there was something else there, too. "Good,"
Spike said, taking Xander's mouth in a slow, lingering kiss. Xander couldn't
help rocking forward, thrusting their hard cocks together.
"Yeah,
Xan. Fuck," Spike whispered roughly in Xander's ear.
Xander
turned to press a kiss against the curve of Spike's throat, his jaw, anywhere
Xander could reach. He'd always loved kissing, but he especially loved kissing
Spike. It was the way Spike shivered at the touch of Xander's lips, the way he
sighed his pleasure. It's like Spike was as... surprised and grateful for the
way Xander made him feel as Xander was for the way Spike made him feel.
"Want
you," Xander said as he pressed another kiss to the corner of Spike's mouth.
Spike
smirked but didn't hesitate to tug Xander back toward their bedroom, his thumb
rubbing lightly over the pulse point at Xander's wrist, that small touch so
intimate and arousing. They tumbled onto the bed together, hands reaching and
tangling together as they got comfortable.
Xander's
sweats found their way onto the floor, alongside his t-shirt and Spike's
clothes. He moaned as skin met skin, Spike's body so smooth and hard against
his. He let his hand skim over Spike's side to rest against his hip, fingers
curling as Spike licked a wet stripe against Xander's throat.
"Want
you," Xander said again, pressing his hips against Spike's. "Want you
inside me."
Spike
groaned and reached for one of the small tubes they kept by the bed.
"Yes,
luv," Spike said as Xander pushed back against Spike's fingers. "Open
up for me. Just like that."
Xander
whimpered, loving the feel of Spike's fingers stretching him open but aching
for Spike's cock instead. "Please," he pleaded.
"Shh,"
Spike said, kissing Xander softly. "You don't have to beg, luv. I'll
always give you what you need, yeah?"
Xander
arched, all his muscles going taut as Spike pressed into him, filling him.
Xander wrapped his arms around Spike as he took his time, thrusting in and out
at an almost tortuously slow pace. But Xander loved it. Loved the careful way
Spike moved against him, the way he almost seemed to... to worship Xander's
body.
Spike's
hands were cool against his skin, caressing his hips, rubbing lightly over his
hardened nipples.
"You're
so beautiful writhing beneath me, pet," Spike said huskily. "Always
feel so good, so tight around me."
Xander
rocked up, meeting each one of Spike's lazy thrusts. It wasn't until Spike
wrapped cool fingers around Xander's cock that Xander's movements became a
little more urgent, a little more frantic. "Spike," Xander said,
bucking up into Spike's hand. "Gonna come."
Burying
his face against Xander's neck, Spike groaned, teeth scraping lightly over
Xander's throat. Xander inhaled sharply as a wave of pleasure swamped him.
"Do it, luv. Come for me." Spike's voice was silky soft as he urged
Xander on.
Closing
his eyes, Xander gave into it, body arching as he let his orgasm take him. As
pleasure crested he felt Spike lean in, blunt teeth biting but never breaking
skin. Then Spike was shuddering against him, the scent of their come mingling
in the air. Spike pressed another soft kiss to Xander's lips as he carefully
slipped free of Xander's body.
It
was warm and cozy cuddled up with Spike beneath the blankets. And Xander felt
his eyelids begin to droop. "Hey, wait!" Xander's eyes popped open
again. "You distracted me. I forgot to put the dough in the fridge!"
Spike
pushed Xander back against the mattress. "Go to sleep, pet. I'll take care
of it for you."
"Always
take care of me," Xander said sleepily. Spike's chuckles were the last
thing Xander heard before drifting off.
The
whole apartment smelled like gingerbread and Xander couldn't keep the grin off
his face. Even if they'd burned the first batch, and their second batch came
out with a few missing limbs, they'd ended up with at least two dozen edible
cookies. And now that they were cooled, they could start the decorating.
Spike
grabbed one of the disembodied limbs and bit into it.
"Spike!"
Xander said, amused but exasperated.
"What?"
Spike gave Xander a sheepish grin.
Xander
laughed at Spike's innocent expression, then licked at the gingerbread crumbs
clinging to his lips. "Let's just decorate."
Spike's
grin turned wicked but he bent to the task, squeezing little green buttons onto
the vest Xander had iced onto the first cookie. By the time Spike was done
adding his own embellishments, Xander was laughing out loud.
"You just had to do it, didn't you?" Xander said, shaking his head. Well, he did say he wanted to start new traditions. A plateful of gingerbread vampires wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind, but he'd take it.
