Chapter 9



The taste of Riley’s blood could only be described as ecstasy to her senses. It was more than just the metallic taste Buffy had known as a human and more than the dead taste of the little animal blood she had been able to keep down since her turning. This blood was alive, it had emotions in it…she was taking more than the blood he offered, she was almost absorbing a piece of his being into her own. But like everything else in this new world, for all its seduction and charm she could feel a darkness stirring beneath the surface—a darkness that whispered for her to take it all.

Riley moaned underneath her as his hands clasped at her hips taking pleasure in what her bite could bring him. It was too much, she felt too close to him—too intimate. The degrading act she had seen the couple engaging in earlier suddenly seemed less obscene that what she was currently participating in. This man was a stranger to her, yet she felt she was sharing something with him that she had never dreamt of sharing with anyone.

Buffy pulled back from Riley, pushing herself forcefully out of his grasp when he tried to hang onto her. He groaned and reached out for her, his hand closing around her wrist in a punishing grip. She saw it then—the addiction. His eyes were glazed and mindless with the desperation to return her fangs to their sheath in his neck. Looking into his eyes, Buffy could see the craving he had for the feel of it—craving that went so deep that it became an imbedded need that he could no longer control even if he had wanted to.

“Let go,” Buffy said, calmly masking the panic that was beginning to rise within her.

Riley shook his head as if trying to clear it. Sweat had begun to bead on his face “I-I need…please! Just come back…please.”

Buffy forcefully ripped her wrist out of his hands. “No.”

Riley slumped back into the chair once she was out of his reach. His head lolled to the side to stare at Spike. “Please…”

Buffy saw Dru swoop in from beside her only to be restrained by her sire’s hand.

“How long?” Angelus asked with a growl. Dru whimpered in his grasp and tried to wriggle free, the smell of fresh blood too much of a temptation to her senses.

Riley turned to look at Angelus. “Let her go…I want it. Please, I need it.”

Angelus shook his head and shoved Drusilla into Darla’s capable arms. “You’ve got an addiction, Riley, you know it’s illegal for us to knowingly feed that addiction.”

Riley shook his head rapidly. “No. No, I don’t have an addiction. I swear, so just—please.”

His focus turned to Buffy again as he lunged for her. Spike growled and leapt to pull her back out of the human’s grasp.

“You need help, mate,” Spike said simply.

“Get the manager, Spike,” Angelus said as he held his hand out to Buffy. She quickly made her way to her sire’s side as Spike slipped back out through the curtain.

“Are they all like this?” Buffy asked warily as she watched Riley moan and slide down in his seat. His skin was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and his eyes were slow and glassy.

“No, not all humans have this reaction. Only some of them become addicted to being bitten,” Darla replied.

“He looked so normal when he came in though,” Buffy said softly.

“Most of them do, it is amazing what addiction can drive a human to do.” Buffy turned to the direction of the voice and watched as a figure detached itself from the darkness of the room—tall, dark, handsome and deadly rolled into one tight package. He gave her a slow smile that had her skin shivering as if visibly caressed. “Angelus and his bitches,” the voice continued from the shadows.

She could feel the power rolling off the vampire in waves. This one was much older than most of the vampires she had encountered so far…perhaps even older than Darla. Yet her sire didn’t seem to be worried by his presence.

“Christian,” Angelus greeted simply.

The vampire in question nodded in acknowledgment. “I see one more has been added to your little group since we last met, Angelus. Won’t you introduce us?”

Buffy looked to her sire but his attention was focused on the vampire before them. Their conversation was interrupted as the curtain was pushed back once more and Spike walked back through with a small greasy looking man in tow.

“What the bloody hell is he doing here?” Spike growled as he marched his way across the room to stand beside his family.

“Willy,” Angelus greeted as he detached himself from Buffy’s side to greet the human.

“Angelus, long time no see.” Buffy watched as the man’s hands jumped to the knot of his tie that was fastened around his throat, before trailing down its length and delving into the pockets of his pants as he rocked back on his heels. He was still only for a moment before starting the routine again. Nervous twitch? Perhaps working with vampires for so long had taken its toll on his nerves.

“He’s over here,” Angelus noted, leading the manager over to the slumped form on the couch.

“Again, what the bloody hell is this git doing in here?” Spike asked, gesturing to the dark vampire that still stood in their private room.

“Spike, I was wondering where you had gotten to,” Christian said pleasantly with a grin too friendly to be believable. Spike snarled at him. Christian turned his attention to Buffy once more. “I’m Christian.”

Buffy looked down at the hand he held out to her. Palm turned up instead of sideways. Buffy looked to her sire but his attention was focused on the club’s manager.

Hesitantly she placed her palm in his. He smiled wickedly at her as he tugged her forward and leant forward to kiss the back of her hand.

“Charmed,” Christian grinned at her.

Buffy fought the urge to fidget in his grasp. It wasn’t that she found the act disgusting, rather it was the tension she could feel radiating off the rest of her family due to his presence. He gave off the distinct sense of danger in waves, great crashing waves that threatened to overwhelm her. She sent a look back over her shoulder for help.

“Do I get a name?” Christian asked as he straightened up again. Buffy gave him a nervous smile and discreetly tried to pull back. He countered her step back with his own step forward.

“Buffy,” she said softly. She felt a hand curl around her own and tug her back from the vampire before her. She smiled gratefully up at Spike as he curled his arm possessively around her waist.

“Christian is his clan’s PR person, you might say,” Darla noted as she circled her way towards them. “You see, Buffy, most Clan Leaders don’t leave their base often, so they have people like Christian here, who do all the necessary publicity work: recruiting, rule enforcing, making sure their clan’s face remains untarnished…charming the enemy where necessary.”

Darla let the last point hang, as she smiled sweetly at Christian. He smiled back at her with a look that didn’t refute what she had said. “Sometimes the best way to get information from the enemy is to sleep with them. That’s Christian’s job.”

Christian chuckled. “You’re hardly one to throw stones. I remember a time when you were in a position not unlike my own.”

“I was never ashamed of it either. I’m merely fulfilling my duty as head of the family by informing our youngest member exactly who you are and what you do.” Her voice was as sickly sweet as always as she came to place her hand delicately on Buffy’s shoulder.

“And here I thought it was Angelus that ran the family, nowadays. Talk is you let you own childe rule over you.”

Darla smirked at Christian as Angelus came up to stand beside her. Two men came in and helped carry Riley’s now unconscious body out without fanfare until they were left alone once more.

Angelus curled his hands around Darla’s slim hips and pulled her roughly back into his body. “Nobody but the Master rules me, Angelus knows that. Let people think what they would like about this supposed show of weakness.”

“You taint your clan’s image,” Christian sneered at them.

Spike growled. Angelus held his hand up to quiet his childe—they would not be seen throwing the first punch.

Darla let the comment slide. “So tell me, Christian, were you just sent here to try and taunt us, or is there purpose to this visit?”

Christian grinned at her. “Just introducing myself to Buffy, it has been an age since you’ve added a fledgling to the Order. She must be special,” he said pleasantly and with as much charm as ever.

“That she is, very special,” Angelus said evenly.

Christian’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Praise from the almighty Angelus! Will wonders never cease?” he said with no small amount of sarcasm.

Angelus grinned at him. “Indeed, I am still amazed that you have the capacity to string a sentence together.”

Christian chuckled falsely “You’re funny.”

“Thank you,” Angelus replied with a wicked smirk.

Buffy stood watching them send barbs back and forth. She was getting a headache. Too much had happened in such a small span of time. She was still trying to cope with the fact that she had bitten someone and enjoyed it. That truly made her a monster didn’t it? Despite the fact that she was resolved never to do it again because of the unwanted level of intimacy that was involved with it. Then there was the shock of Riley’s addiction. That had been something she never wanted to see ever again. Now this.

It was more than obvious even to Buffy that Christian had been sent here to size her up. Angelus’ words from earlier in the evening about becoming a target now that she was a member of the Order came roaring back. Did this mean that she was doomed to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder?

“Get out of here, Christian. You’ve seen, you’ve taunted, now run back to your master and report your findings like a good flunky,” Spike growled above her snapping her attention back to the present.

Christian smirked at Spike and gave him a mock bow. “As always it has been less than pleasant talking to you all.”

Buffy let out a deep sigh once they were alone again. Her head was still cloudy with the shots of vodka she had taken earlier, her body still unaccustomed to the effects of alcohol on her system. She made her way over to the couch and flopped down onto it. Spike moved over to sit down beside her and she let her head fall down onto his shoulder.

“So, is it always this much fun when you guys go out?”


*****


You could most certainly have a hang over as a vampire. At least that’s what Buffy thought the splitting headache and painful throbbing in her head was. It felt like someone had cracked her skull open with a chisel and was in the process of pouring fiery hot molten lava into the recesses of her brain.

She picked up the ice pack and held it to her head as her other hand reached out for the cup of coffee she had sitting on the desk she had claimed in the mansion’s library. Books were spread out all around her as she searched for any references to the names Simone or Silas.

So far she had drawn a blank. There was nothing in any of these books mentioning anything on Simone before her rein as Clan Leader let alone Silas, her so-called sire. It would be so much easier if vampires had last names.

What she really wanted to know was how Simone came to be leader of a clan if she was turned by someone not only outside of the Aurelian Clan but also by someone who wasn’t considered an Aurelian proper. Shouldn’t she have been nothing more than a minion? But then she had undergone an Embracement just as Buffy had, so maybe her Aurelian sire was part of the Order?

What she needed was more information on Silas. All she had to go by was a name and a hazy memory left from the dream she had after her Embracement. She closed the book she was skimming through with a thud, before wincing at the volume of the sound. Buffy had no idea how she was going to dig up more information on Silas, after all he was dead and she had the feeling that he was a taboo subject around those who knew of his existence.

The doors to the library opened silently as Spike slipped in. He watched Buffy sitting at the table for a moment before moving noiselessly across the floor to stand behind her.

“You’re thinking so hard I can almost see the wheels turning in your head.”

Buffy jumped at the voice which suddenly rang out in an otherwise deserted library. She had been so lost in thought she hadn’t felt the tingles at the base of her spine that announced another’s presence.

“Spike!”

He chuckled as he pulled out the chair beside hers and sat backwards on it.

Buffy shifted uncomfortably. She didn’t want him here with her—she didn’t want anyone here with her—it was why she had waited until the daylight hours to come down here. Somehow she didn’t want anyone discovering she was trying to find out everything she could on the elusive Simone.

“What are you doing down here?” The sound of Spike’s voice made her look up at him again.

Buffy worried her lower lip nervously for a moment, before smiling brightly at him. “Just looking through some of the books that are kept down here, some of them are really old!”

“You should be resting. It’s still early morning.”

Buffy sighed. He wasn’t going to press the issue. Somehow she didn’t think that was why he was down here with her anyway. “I could say the same for you.”

“You need to be careful of Christian,” Spike said as though it was a natural progression in the conversation. Buffy frowned at the sudden subject change. “Darla is right, if he wants information he will try and seduce it out of you and he had his sights set on you last night.”

“Spike, he screamed ‘bad guy’. I don’t need super vamp sense to tell me that. He’s not going to seduce me,” Buffy replied, with a small smile.

Spike gave her a disbelieving look. “You can’t tell me that you didn’t find Mr. Tall, Dark and Mysterious attractive.”

“I’m not going to lie to you. Christian is attractive, but just because I find someone attractive doesn’t mean I’m going to jump their bones at the first chance the opportunity is presented.” Buffy stood up with the book she had been reading in her hands so she could return it to the stacks.

“Is that so?”

She could feel him behind her. Close enough that she could almost feel the whisper of his touch against her skin.

Buffy nodded without turning around. “Well, it’s not all about attraction, is it?”

“No, I guess not,” Spike replied quietly. Buffy smiled and turned to face him. He brushed her hair back from her face and brought his face down to hers. He let his lips hover over hers for a moment, giving her an out if she wanted one. He felt her fingers curl around his upper arm and slide up towards his neck.

“I’m glad we got that cleared up,” she said before closing the remaining distance between them.

Buffy pressed herself up against Spike as they kissed. Her soft lips against his and his arm tight around her waist holding her to him as his other hand sat lightly at the base of her head, tangled in the golden strands of her hair.

“Christian doesn’t have a chance,” Buffy mumbled as she pulled back. Spike let out a small murmur of agreement before pulling her back to him again to the sound of her giggles.



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AN: Much thanks to Andrea for beta'ing this for me. I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday. I know it has been a long time but let me know what you think . Thank you also to everyone who has reviewed so far :D