The creature moved slowly and quietly, stalking her
prey. Although she was young, she had quickly mastered the skills she needed to
come upon her target unawares. Crouching down, focused intently on her goal,
body quivering with energy, she paused for a moment before leaping sky-high onto
her perch.
“Bloody hell!” Spike bellowed.
Startled, Xander
turned, ready to defend his mate from attack. What he saw made him duck his head
to hide the grin desperately trying to break out. Hanging from Spike’s upper
arm, claws firmly embedded in T-shirt and muscle, was Spot. The kitten had
apparently not quite mastered the ability to gauge heights, her attempt to leap
Spike in a single bound having fallen a bit short.
Taking a breath and
willing himself not to laugh, Xander went to Spike and took hold of the little
cat. “Easy, Spot. Let go of Spike. There’s a good kitty,” he crooned as he
gently removed her from his lover.
“Good kitty my arse,” Spike muttered.
“That’s the third time I’ve had its claws in me today.”
“She has good
taste.”
“She probably tastes pretty good too. Give her here.”
“No,
no and no.” Xander cuddled the kitten closer to him and half turned away from
Spike. “No draining Spot. Would the chip even let you do that?”
“Probably
only give me a little zap. Not much to her, is there? One little bite, a few
swallows and she’d be ready to take on her next life.”
Xander looked at
him sternly. “You are *not* going to drain Spot.”
Spike shook his head,
turning back to the show he was half watching on the television. They had come
across the bedraggled, orange bit of fur while on patrol three nights ago. It
was raining, of course, and the plight of the miserable looking creature had
gone straight to Xander’s heart. Being something of a stray himself, it didn’t
surprise Spike that Xander had rescued it and brought it home. What had
surprised him a little was his decision to keep it.
“Why’d you name it
Spot, anyway? What kind of a name is that for a striped cat?”
Xander sat
in the armchair, still sheltering Spot from the big, bad vampire. “Data named
his cat Spot and it looked just like her.”
“Oh bloody hell. Could my life
get any more pathetic?” Spike groaned, dropping his head dramatically onto the
back of the couch. “A hundred and twenty years. For a hundred and twenty years I
was the most feared vampire on the face of the earth. The right hand of the
Scourge of Europe. William the Bloody. Sires used my name to keep their fledges
in line. And now? Now I’m in love with a geek. A sodding, mortal
geek.”
Xander snorted. “Who’s calling who a geek here? I seem to recall
you liking to play ‘Riker and Picard go to Risa’.”
“And I seem to recall
you liking to play ‘Riker teaches Wesley to be a man’,” Spike said, leering at
his partner.
Xander blushed and squirmed a little in his
seat.
“Oh, commander,” Spike said in a high voice. “I’ve been on the
bridge again without permission. Are you going to spank me?”
Xander
blushed a little more and dropped the cat out of his lap, getting up and going
to the kitchen. Spike could hear the rapid beat of Xander’s heart and the smell
the delicious scent of his lover’s arousal. He heard him come up behind him, but
had to stifle a yelp when a cold beer pressed against his neck instead of the
warmth of Xander’s mouth, which he’d expected. Must be going senile, he thought
to himself. Can hear his bloody heartbeat, but not the refrigerator door
opening.
Sliding the beer down Spike’s chest, Xander leaned down to
whisper in his ear. “What about you? You seem to have a real fetish for ‘Riker
and Picard in the ready room on the desk’.” He dropped his head to lay a kiss on
skin even cooler than normal. “Well, Number One,” Xander imitated Jean-Luc as
best he could. “Engage all-bloody- ready!”
Turning his head to catch
Xander’s mouth in a kiss, Spike grinned. “You do make a damn fine Commander,
luv.”
***
Later that night, Xander snuggled as close as physically
possible to Spike under the covers. “This is my favorite time of day, you know
that?” he said.
“Yeah?” Spike asked, smirking. “Why’s that,
exactly?”
“I know you think it’s because we usually have sex, and that’s
good. Sex with you is definitely good.”
“I’m so glad you approve,” Spike
said dryly.
“But it’s more than that. I like being out with you. Watching
all the girls, and not a few guys, drool over you and knowing that you’re all
mine. That no matter what anyone says, you’re going home with me.”
“Too
right,” Spike said and tightened his arms around his lover.
“And I even
like watching you wind up Buffy sometimes. Or make comments to Giles that have
him wondering whether to smirk or smack you.” Spike gave a little chuckle. “But
when we get home, when we finally get here… I love having sex with you Spike.
But lying in our bed, in your arms, knowing that you love me – it’s the only
place I ever really want to be. This is home.”
“Ah, love.” Spike nuzzled
into his boy’s hair, kissing him, hands stroking up and down his back. He moved
down, covering Xander’s face in delicate, tender kisses as he slowly rolled his
lover onto his back. Settling himself on the warm body beneath him, he continued
to murmur words of love as he slowly, gently began to move against him.
Xander, as always, was lost in the beauty and passion of the creature
who shared his bed. It never ceased to amaze him how completely Spike could
concentrate on him, often not even allowing Xander to reciprocate. Spike had
entwined his hands with Xander’s, holding them still. The only touches were
Spike’s mouth covering him in kisses and Spike’s hips in a slow grind against
his own. Lost in a haze of arousal, it took Xander a moment to realize that the
words being spoken against his skin had switched from endearments to obscenities
and that the growl he heard wasn’t exactly one of arousal.
“Spike? Spike
are you ok?”
“Bloody *fucking* hell. I’m gonna drain that sodding little
beast so dry it’ll mummify on the spot.”
Xander opened his eyes and
looked up at his lover. Peering over Spike’s shoulder was Spot, happily kneading
his back with her sharp little claws and purring.
“Um….” Xander faltered,
once again trying desperately not to smile.
“Even Angelus at his worst
never shagged with animals walking over him. It’s unnatural.”
“Says the
vampire,” Xander replied, starting to lose the battle with the
smile.
“Get that bloody thing off me, Xan.” Spike said
quietly.
“She’s lonely, Spike. Probably just wanted some company or
something. Don’t kittens sleep together in a heap?”
“Loneliness is
something you two are going to have in common if you don’t get that thing off me
right now.”
One glance at his face convinced Xander that Spike was,
indeed, very serious. Xander wriggled out from under Spike, trying not to jostle
him in case the kitten dug in even deeper to keep her balance. Feeling Spike
tense even further and mutter blood-soaked death threats assured Xander that he
hadn’t been successful.
Cat safely outside the closed bedroom door,
Xander returned to his very annoyed boyfriend. “There,” he said with forced
optimism. “Cat gone and we can return to our regularly scheduled
programming.”
Spike lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.
“C’mon Spike. I promise to remember to shut the door from now on.” Still
nothing. “We're in our favorite place, where we show how much we love each
other,” he tried. Still nothing. A different approach was clearly needed.
Rolling onto his side and sliding closer to his lover, he began to trace his
fingers over Spike's chest, using the light, barely there touches he knew Spike
loved. Carefully avoiding the vampire's nipples, Xander brought his lips to that
perfectly sculptured face. Kissing that beautiful face and neck, whispering of
his love, Xander noticed life returning to his partner's flagging erection. But
the pout stubbornly remained. “Just think, Spike. After all these years, you’ve
finally out-kinked the great Angelus,” Xander teased, and with that, he swooped
down and bit Spike’s nipple. Not too hard, just hard enough to make his lover
gasp.
For all that he wanted to make Xander suffer for bringing that
animal into their home, Spike couldn’t resist. He was only 120, after all.
Rolling his partner over fast enough to get an “eep” in protest, the blond
grinned down at his mate and said, “There are a lot more interesting ways to
out-kink Angelus.” And then proceeded to show him. The mewing of the forlorn
kitten unable to penetrate the haze of lust and love in the
room.
***
“But why do we have to keep it?”
With a sigh,
Xander once again reflected on the truism that no one, but no one, pestered like
Spike. “Because she’s ours, Spike. We found her and brought her here and fed her
and now she’s ours. We have an obligation to take care of her.” He wasn’t sure
that was the best tactic to use at the moment, but Spike did have a thing about
honoring promises.
“We? *We* found her?” Spike turned to Xander in mock
amazement. “Oh no, luv. *You* found her and brought her into *our* house without
so much as a ‘Spike, do you mind’. You may feel an obligation to that little
beast, but not me. All she’s ever done for me is draw blood and interrupt
perfectly good shagging time.” He dropped into the armchair with a snort. Xander
could hear him muttering under his breath from the kitchen. “Oh fine. Bring
another blood sucker into the house. Just what we need. Let’s poke Spike fulla
holes – that’ll be great sport.” Spike raised his voice. “You realize that if
that bloody cat could hold a stake I’da been dust several times already.” Xander
shook his head and continued to peruse the cupboards for likely dinner
components.
Realizing that Spike had stopped grumbling, Xander poked his
head into the living room to see what had distracted him. Spot, seemingly
unaware of how tenuous a thread her continued existence hung on, had jumped onto
Spike’s legs. She rubbed her whole body up against his chest, her head dropping
to nudge against his hand. When he finally moved to pet her, she curled herself
into his lap purring furiously. Spike looked up at Xander with a smile that
spelled defeat.
“Well, then. What’s for dinner?”