Chapter 8

Dawn sat up with a start when the door was flung open, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Sorry to wake you, pet, but I can’t seem to find your sister. Do you know where she is?” Spike wondered.

Charles followed behind him, just as concerned.

Dawn shrugged. “I don’t know. We were talking, and I told her some more stuff about Ethan. Something I’m not proud of, but Buffy didn’t say that she would be going anywhere.”

Spike rubbed the back of his neck. “What did you tell her?”

She lowered her head, not wanting to relive that particular conversation.

He kneeled down to be closer to her, bringing her gaze back on his. “I know this is probably hard for you, but it might help me find Buffy.”

Dawn took in a deep breath, figuring the short version would be better. “I told her that Ethan raped me,” she said softly, but both vampires were able to hear her.

Spike clenched his fists at his side, standing up and noticing the same expression on Charles’ face. “She would have gone after him, then. We have to find Buffy before she does something that she might regret.”

“Bloody hell, Will, if you ask me that git deserves everything she gives him. If I knew about this beforehand, I would have gone after him myself.”

“This isn’t about saving that wanker from her,” Spike explained. “Taking a life changes you, even one as pitiful as his. Buffy isn’t ready for that yet. I’m going after her, but I need you to stay here with Dawn.”

Charles nodded, even though he wanted to rip that pillock a new one. He went to Dawn’s side after Spike left, taking her trembling hand in his. “Don’t worry, love, he’ll bring your sister back in one piece, but I can’t say the same for Ethan.”


* * * * *


Spike burst through the house, and seeing as how he didn’t need an invitation told him all he needed to. The stench of blood and death filled the air, heading over to the living room to find Buffy sitting against a wall. The mutilated body of Ethan Rayne at her feet, the man’s throat was torn out, and every last drop drained. This was more human blood than she’d ever had before.

“Oh, love, what have you done?”

She looked up at him, seeming to just take notice that he was there. “I had to make him stop.”

Spike nodded. “I know you did, sweetheart. Come on, let’s get out of here. I’ll take care of this; you don’t have to worry about it.”

Buffy took his hand, licking the remaining blood from her lips. “He told me everything that he did to her. I just wanted him to stop. He was a monster, Spike. He didn’t deserve to live.”

“I know, baby, it’s all right now. I have to get you cleaned up before we head back. Dawn shouldn’t see you like this.”

Buffy shook her head. “I can’t be around her. His blood is in me, and all I can think about is having more. I’m afraid of what I might do if I’m around Dawn. I don’t want to hurt her.”

“She’ll understand, but I’ll explain the situation to her. You just need to relax until it’s out of your system, and then you’ll be as good as new,” he told her.

She wasn’t convinced it would be that easy. “You have to chain me up, Spike. I can’t be trusted to go anywhere on my own, you need to make sure I can’t leave.”

He didn’t think that was necessary, but if it would make her feel better, he would do it.


* * * * *


“Rayne’s body has been disposed of; you should have seen that house. More than just the crime scene, he sure did go out of his way to make the girl feel isolated. That git was a real piece of work, and I can’t say I’m sorry that he’s gone. There’s no telling what he would have made her believe next.”

Spike had to concur, even though it pained him to see Buffy suffering over this. “It means a lot that you agreed to let Dawn stay here, Buffy doesn’t think she would be safe around her at the moment.”

Charles nodded. “It’s no trouble, but what are we going to do about the Council? The bloke has been keeping her hidden from them with some sort of spell, but now that he’s dead, the magic would have died with him. You know they’ve realized he’s not the man they’ve originally sent for Dawn, it’s only a matter of time until they find her and I don’t think they would take too kindly to her being surrounded by vampires.”

He shrugged. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, she’s under our protection. She’ll need to be trained, I was going to do it, but now my main priority is watching over Buffy until she’s better to be around people again.”

“No worries, I can train the girl. I have more experience with Slayers than you do.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Since you seem to have a thing for Slayers, I do worry, but just keep in mind that this is Buffy’s sister. You saw what she did to Ethan.”

Charles was appalled. “What do you take me for? It was only one Slayer, and it’s not like history will be repeating itself. Besides, Buffy likes me; I doubt I’d get the same treatment.”

“I saw the way you’ve been looking at Dawn, just watch yourself. I don’t want Buffy to have a reason to kill anyone else.”

Charles scoffed when Spike walked away, not knowing what his mate was talking about, but when Dawn came out of the guest room wearing a tank top and tiny shorts that left little to the imagination, he knew he was royally fucked.


* * * * *


“How are you feeling, love?”

Buffy let out a sigh. “Suddenly glad that I don’t have any circulation, other than that, it could be worse.”

Spike stepped closer to the bound girl. “Do I need to loosen the manacles for you?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine, but I’ve had human blood before and it’s never felt like this.”

He nodded. “It’s different when taken directly from a body, and you drained him entirely. It will take a while to completely leave your system.”

“I’m not sorry I did it,” Buffy claimed after a moment of silence. “Ethan hurt Dawn, and I needed to make him pay. He took advantage of a scared teenage girl; there is nothing okay about that. It sickens me how we’re always the ones people see as monsters, when there are humans out there with souls who do a hell of a lot worse. How is that fair?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, pet. It’s not bloody fair, but that’s just the way of the world. People will choose to believe what they want.”

“How do you handle this?” she wondered.

He shrugged. “I’ve had lots of practice.”

“Is Dawn okay? She’s not afraid of me now, is she?”

Spike shook his head. “I think she knows on some level that you did the right thing. She doesn’t hate you for it, if that’s what you’re worried about. Charles is looking after her, until you think you’re ready to be in the same room with her again. All the girl cares about right now is getting her sister back.”

Buffy was relieved for that. “God, this laying around is driving me crazy. It’s already been three days. I need something to distract me from boredom.”

He grinned, moving over to her still form. “I can help with that.”

Buffy gasped when Spike ripped her shirt open, lavishing her firm nipples with his tongue. “Fuck, that’s a good idea.”

Spike chuckled, bunching up her skirt and moving her panties out of the way enough to slide two fingers inside of her slick folds, pushing the digits in and out of her wetness. She cried out, coating his fingers with her juices, which he then proceeded to lick clean. Spike had his cock out in mere seconds, stroking his shaft, getting it nice and hard. Not that it was a problem around her. In one quick thrust, he slammed his dick into her entrance, catching her scream with his mouth, and slipping his tongue inside so that she could taste herself.

Buffy pulled on the chains, throwing her head back as he fucked her faster.

“Fuck, baby, you always feel so bloody good,” Spike muttered, pounding her pussy hard.

She was close, vamping out and latching on to his throat, taking two long pulls of his blood. Buffy yelled out her release, feeling Spike come undone right behind her.

He gazed into her eyes, brushing the hair out of her face. “Is that better?”

Buffy licked the blood from her lips, flashing him a grin. “Much.”


* * * * *


“Did you make it hurt?”

Buffy was surprised by her sister’s question. It took a little over a week of her being chained up, but she felt that it was time to get back out there. “He screamed a lot. The things he was saying, I just wanted to shut him up. The man didn’t deserve to live. If it wasn’t you, he would have done the same thing to some other poor girl. I did what I felt was right.”

Dawn agreed. “I’m not judging you, Buffy. I hope you made it hurt. Ethan lied to get me to trust him; he said I would always be safe with him. I feel so stupid that I believed his crap; you just wanted to protect me. I could never blame you for that.”

She hugged her sister, amazed at how grown up she was now. “No one will ever hurt you again, I promise you that. You have me, Spike, and Charles to protect you now.”

Dawn blushed at the mention of Charles; it was probably no secret that she had a huge crush on him. She’d spent nearly a week with him at his house, and in all that time, he never made her feel like she didn’t belong. Buffy warned her about the numerous girls that Charles tended to bring home, but since Dawn was staying there, she hadn’t seen any. She knew that couldn’t have anything to do with her, there was no way a vampire as sexy and suave as Charles could possibly be interested in her, but it was nice to pretend. He could have anyone he wanted, after all. Dawn may be the Slayer, but she would always just be a kid to him. “Am I getting another Watcher now?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll worry about that when the time comes. Hey, why don’t we go patrolling tomorrow night? Just the two of us, I would love to see you in action. Put some of those skills that Charles taught you to use, what do you say?”

Dawn smiled when she thought back to the few sparring sessions she had with Charles. They were totally worth it, if just to see him without a shirt on. “That sounds good to me.”

“Not talking about me, are you?”

She averted her gaze when the object of her affections made his presence known, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself; I was just seeing if Dawn was up for some patrolling with me tomorrow. I’m interested to see what you’ve been teaching her.”

Charles grinned, noticing the charming blush on the younger girl’s cheeks. “Oh, she’s a natural. Aren’t you, love? Bloody impressive, if I do say so myself.”

Dawn glanced back up at him, knowing he was probably only saying that for Buffy’s benefit.

“Whenever you wish to spar again, you know where I’ll be. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have a prior engagement.”

Buffy watched him leave the room, having a feeling of exactly what he was getting up to. She sensed two new heartbeats in the mansion, and it was confirmed when the women giggled at what could only be one of Charles’ cheesy lines. Buffy was about to make a stupid joke, but decided against it when she caught the hurt expression on Dawn’s face. She knew that look all too well; it seemed like her little sister had a bit of a crush on the vampire. How had she not noticed that before? There was no way this could end well.