Chapter 32 – Hey Pretty
I can’t forget I’m a sole architect
I built the shadows here
I built the growl in the voice I fear
You add it up but to do better than that
You’ve got to follow me
Poe
Sometimes you just had to be
a man. Own up to your mistakes. Fix them the best way you possibly could.
Redemption was a word he knew well. His whole life was an endless litany of his
father reaching for it. He wondered if anyone ever achieved it, or if it was an
endless struggle for something that was unattainable. It was why he never
thought about it. At least he hadn’t until his cowardice had tarnished his
light in this world.
Connor glanced over at Raven
who hadn’t said a word to him since yesterday morning in the clinic. She
responded to him. Followed him. Did everything right without speaking. It tore
at him to look into eyes that once were so lively but now were the dull edge of
He turned his eyes back to
the dirt road he was driving on. It curved through the woods on a narrow tract
that led to the small cabin where they would be staying. Essie had sent one of
her men to turn the generator on and stock the refrigerator and pantry. All
they had to do was show up. This would be their hideaway. The place where they would
discover their future. A destiny he already knew. It was what he wanted even
though he ran in fear of it. His place was beside her, to be her knight, her
guard, and lover as she fulfilled her calling. Like Spike was to Buffy.
He would always be ‘The
Destroyer’. Only now he would also accept the role of mate to Raven and fulfill
it to the best of his ability. He’d been trained well by them all. Now it was
time to take his place in the wheel they were all running on. Nothing would
ever be the same again after this time. And it was all right.
The cabin came into view and
he pulled the jeep to a stop beside the small porch in the front. It was a typical
log structure. A chimney rose from the roof like a hand reaching through the
trees that were clustered around the area. Connor climbed out, hurrying around
to open the door for Raven. She stepped out, wrapping her arms around her
middle as she looked around. There was curiosity on her pixie face that gave
him hope of her quick recovery. After she had stepped away from the vehicle, he
grabbed their bags from the back.
“Come on,” Connor said,
holding his hand to her. She accepted. They walked up the three steps to the
front door where he let go of her long enough to open it. She stepped through
the threshold first, leaving him to follow. He watched as she wandered around
the small space. The kitchen was to the left of the large front room with a
table dividing it from the living area. There was a small hall leading to the
back where a bedroom and a bathroom were. He dropped her bag on the floor next
to the bed. “You can sleep here. I’ll sleep in the living room.”
Raven nodded.
“You hungry…,” no response,
“tired?”
She nodded again.
“Then I’ll leave you alone,”
Connor said. “I’ll be out here if you need me.”
He closed the door behind
him, heading back to the sanctuary of the living room. He threw his bag on to
the table, and then flopped on the couch. It was going to be hard seeing her
through this. Everyone from Kate and Buffy to Spike had lectured him on taking care
of Raven. Her fragile emotions over what had happened all the way to her eating
habits had been touched on.
In a way it was funny
because no one knew her like he did. The fear she felt with every fight, the
tears she still cried over those girls buried in unmarked graves, to the way
her eyes glowed when she was happy, and the regrets she already carried. They
were all a part of him because he was the one who walked next to her every
night, the one who laid those bodies in the graves, and the one she loved.
This was the beginning of a
new world. A new way of life for them both. He knew something was coming. He
saw it in the faces of the people around him. He dreamed it every night when
his mother came to him encouraging him to stay strong. The hope Darla lost as a
young girl was alive in him. To her memory, her sacrifice for him was helping
to shape the man he was becoming. Only once the First came to him in her
shimmering light. He had laughed in its face, walking away. Quortoth had shown
him just how bad life could be. He wanted no part of that hell ever again.
So, here he was. Ready to
help Raven through this difficult time. To see her through the coming days of
shaky ground.
“Connor,” Raven’s voice
roused him. She barely spoke above a whisper. Her eyes filled with tears as she
walked toward him. “I hurt so bad.”
“I know,” Connor responded,
holding his arms out. He took her onto his lap, holding her close. “It’s going
to be all right though.”
“I hurt so many,” she lamented,
burying her face against him. “How could I behave like that?”
“You’re human.”
“No, I’m not,” Raven said.
“Then how about no one is
perfect,” Connor teased. “Does that one work?”
She laughed. It sounded
strangled but it was there. A step in the right direction. “Yeah, that works.”
They stayed where they were
for a long time. Holding each other until they found the comfortableness again.
Found the rhythm between them that kept them connected. She fell asleep first.
He followed a short time later. They were together again. The way it was meant
to be.
~~~~~~~~
Spike pulled the comforter
up to his waist, leaning back into the pile of pillows behind his head. He
didn’t want to let go of the night yet. It felt too good, luxuriating in the
damp warmth left from their earlier lovemaking. His eyes were heavy as he
scratched his stomach and watched Buffy dressing. She was happier than he’d
seen her in a long time. A smile danced on her lips, her eyes were bright, and
in her wake was the sound of her humming.
“Come back to bed,” Spike asked.
“Nope,” Buffy tossed over
her shoulder. She reached for a pair of jeans, pulling them on and giving him
an enticing view of her ass. He lasciviously licked his lips, remembering
earlier, holding it while he pounded into her. “We need to spend some time with
the kids this morning before we take off.”
Raven and Connor had left
for the cabin almost a week earlier. A week in which he returned home, played
with his children, and made love to Buffy every chance he got. It was where he
belonged. He knew it in every fiber of his being. And today, he was taking his
wife away for the weekend. Right after he picked up his last paycheck and told
Jake he wasn’t returning.
He glanced over at the
clock. It was still early.
“Gotcha,” he yelled, looping
an arm around her waist and picking her up.
“Put me down, Spike,” Buffy
yelped, struggling to free herself, but her movements made her bottom rub
against his crotch. No way was he letting her go now.
“Nope,” Spike said, striding
toward the bed. She giggled, continuing with half-hearted attempts to free
herself. He tickled her along her ribcage making her screech. He laughed and
dumped her on the bed. “Now, I’m going to ravage the young maiden.”
“You’re an idiot,” Buffy teased,
flipping over and attempting to crawl away. “We don’t have time for games.”
Spike leapt onto the bed,
pushing her face down into the comforter. “No games, just want your pussy in my
face.”
Using her arms, she flipped
them so she was facing up on top of him. He held her by the waist again with
one arm, and with his free hand started to undo her jeans.
“No, no, no,” Buffy chanted,
squirming against him. “Don’t have time for anything.”
“Yes, we do,” Spike said,
taking down her zipper. “Just one more time, please.”
“Ha, the Big Bad is begging
for sex,” Buffy announced in triumph. “Paws off the merchandise.” She pushed
his hands away from her then wrapped them around her holding them against her.
He tried to turn them but gave his own yelp of surprise when she bit down on
his arm. Not hard enough to break the skin but enough for him to feel it. He
pulled his arm up to inspect the damage, and she took the opportunity to hop
off the bed. “Can’t catch me,” she taunted as she headed for the stairs.
He shook his head. She
forgot her shirt. She’d be back but he followed her. Leaping over the couch
when she backtracked to grab her t-shirt lying on the chair. Buffy kept a wary
eye on him as they danced around the chair. Him trying to catch her and her
trying to get some covering. Finding her rhythm, he moved to the left, watching
from the corner of his eye as she reached for the shirt. Spike swiveled to his
right, grabbing her wrist and yanked her back. They fell onto the couch, this
time face to face, him on top.
“Got you,” Spike whispered,
pinning her hands above her head. He ground his cock against the softness of
her denim covered cunt. “You’re so beautiful.”
“You just want to get laid,”
Buffy scoffed, trying to buck him off.
He kissed the space between her
breasts, flicking the curve with his tongue. She always tasted so good.
Innocent even after all these years. He sucked on his mark along the curve of
her neck. Her blood was racing through her veins despite her denial of wanting
him.
“I want you,” he vowed.
“You’re my world.”
“Promise me,” Buffy pleaded,
rubbing her chin against his cheek. “For always.”
It broke through his mood
and he loosened his grip on her. She ran her hands along his shoulders, kissed
his temple, then shoved him off. He landed on the floor as she sprung over the
back of the couch. Looking up he saw an evil grin lighting up her face. She
knew him too well. Could play him like an old victrola with only one
record. Buffy swayed her hips with her
arms outstretched. She looked so much like a little girl on a playground that he
expected her to stick her tongue out at him.
She wasn’t though. And her
next action proved it all too well. With one flick of her wrist she undid her
bra. Using moves that any professional stripper would envy, she slowly pulled
it off. He was transfixed by the sight of his love dancing for him. She took a
step up to the platform that held their bed while undoing her jeans. Leaving
them behind on the floor, Buffy climbed onto their bed, did a quick down to her
knees then back up. Her hands slid down her thighs until she was shaking her
breasts at him. He lunged, tackling her down to the bed.
“You’re a shameless tease,”
Spike whispered, kissing his way up her stomach. “Doing that to your husband
who only wants a proper shagging.” Her hands splayed through his hair when he
lightly suckled at one nipple. He kneaded the other one. “So, good, pet, so
good.”
“So, take me already,” Buffy
whimpered, wrapping her legs around him.
All the playfulness was gone
now. They needed each other too much after their long months apart. The only
thing separating them was the thin cotton of her panties. He went to rip them
but she stopped him. “No, they’re new,” she bit his ear. “Take them off real
slow.”
Spike knelt above her. His
golden goddess waiting for her faithful servant. He hooked a finger on either
side, waited until she lifted her hips, then slid them down her legs. He
dropped them over the side of the bed. His gaze drifted over her body, grateful
that she had lost all bashfulness, even with what she considered her
imperfections. He let his tongue run along the scar on her calf where she
caught it while jumping over a fence. The bruises on her thighs from his hands
holding her during the rough sex they’d indulged in first the night before.
He rained adorning kisses
along the silver webbing of stretch marks from her pregnancy. It had left a
soft mound of belly that no matter what she did wouldn’t firm up. He worshiped
it. The extra cushion had kept their baby from harm. To him it was a miracle
beyond any he’d seen in his decades of life.
Her breasts weren’t the same
perky ones she once carried as a teenager, but they too were part of the
miracle. They’d fed the child they created. It only made them more beautiful.
He flicked his tongue at one budding nipple, wondering if it was time to broach
the subject again.
“Let’s have another baby,”
Buffy whispered.
“Do you mean it?”
It was terrifying that she
might be joking. He wanted another chance to have a child. The children brought
to them by circumstance and Journey had completely changed the man who had run
from being a family man. He wanted another one. The chance this time to
celebrate every day of Buffy’s pregnancy, for it to be a happy time, and a
birth that wouldn’t be filled with so much anger and despair. For them to be
together during those first few weeks of their baby’s life. His eyes filled
with tears that she wiped away with her thumbs.
“Yes, I’m sure,” she
promised. “I was supposed to get my next shot this month. If you want I’ll
cancel the appointment.”
“Cancel it,” Spike said,
filled with a happiness that he didn’t think he’d ever felt before. Laughing,
he wrapped Buffy up next to him, and then made love to her with a reverence
that left them both in tears.
He was home.
to be continued…
