Title:

Title: Strip Tease 3

Author: Velvet Crypt

Disclaimer: Joss is God. I own nothing.

Spoilers: Season 6 ending. AU after that.

Summary: The boys call it a night.

Spike stared at the empty stage, thinking his brain was misfiring. Was that Xander? Xander Harris? The Zeppo? Was it possible for that vision of sex on legs to be the same boy who wore big, fat, pink flowers on his shirts and shoved jelly doughnuts in his mouth? Was it really possible that he, Spike, had the most painful hard on he’d ever experienced just from watching Xander Harris dance?

A touch on his shoulder brought him out of his reverie. He tilted his head sideways and the object of his thoughts—and the cause of the bulge in his pants—stood grinning at him. “So, whaddya think?” He pulled up a barstool and nodded at the bartender. The apron clad man set a glass of amber liquid on the rocks in front of the dancer and winked.

“Nice set, Xander. You notice how everyone gets real thirsty after your show.” Xander blew a kiss at the larger man and turned, laughing, back to Spike.

“So, Spike, thoughts? Comments? Complaints?” He sipped at his whiskey.

Spike quirked an eyebrow. “Well, I could say you bloody stunk, cause I’m going to hell anyway…what’s one more lie?”

Xander chuckled and hopped off of the stool. He grabbed Spike’s hand and tugged him through the crowd. He made his way to the very back of the club and to a secluded booth. Two men were there before them, kissing passionately. Xander cleared his throat and waited patiently.

A set of glazed green eyes peered up at him and blinked. “Xander?”

“Yup. It’s me. Xander. Xander who’s done with his set. And it’s you! Adrian. Who goes on after me. Who needs to get changed. Who needs to move so I can have the booth.” During Xander’s commentary, Adrian yelped and scrambled out of the booth muttering ‘shitshitshit.’ He bolted past Xander with a smile of thanks and disappeared into the crowd.

His partner slid out of the booth and nodded at Xander. “Better get my seat up front if I don’t want anyone groping my guy.” Xander smiled and let him by. Then he pulled Spike into the booth.

“So, tell me.”

“Tell you what, pet?”

“Whatever you want.”

Spike sighed and lit a cigarette. “I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Does it matter?”

Xander stared at him, quiet for a moment, as the music thrummed through the room. “Yeah, I think it does.”

Spike quirked his lips wryly. “So, where’d you learn to dance like that?”

Xander acknowledged the abrupt change in topic with a sigh of his own. “I had a brief stint after high school. Freaked me out, but I guess I was pretty good at it. I never planned on doing it again, but when I got here…I dunno. I guess it just seemed like the thing to do.”

Spike nodded. “I know how that goes.”

Xander raised an eyebrow. “How what goes? Things happening spontaneously? Or deciding to strip for a living?”

If he weren’t sure vampires couldn’t blush, he would have swore that was a rosy hue to Spike’s skin.

“Both.”

“You? You were a stripper?” Xander’s mouth hung open. Spike swirled his drink around in his glass and nodded again.

“When? Where? How? Why?”

“If you ever give up your night job, you’d make a good reporter, luv,” Spike joked. “About 1980 or so. In New York. By applying to the owner of the club. And cause I was bored. Dru drug me into some club or another and cooed the rest of the night how the strippers ‘sang’ to her with their bodies.” He rolled his eyes. “Bloody well wanted to strangle her after the first 3 hours. Figured if I learned how, she’d stop dragging me about and I wouldn’t have to listen to it anymore.”

“Whoa.” Xander sat back, dumbfounded. “Would you do it again?”

“Dunno. Didn’t mind it. Got do three of my favorite things, didn’t I?” He took a deep drag from his cigarette.

“And those are?” Xander asked into the silence.

“Got to listen to my favorite tunes. Got to cater to my narcissistic side and show off. And after the show, I had blokes and chits begging for sex. Pretty easy to sneak a bite in here or there while you’re shagging.”

Xander chortled and finished off his glass. “ Ya wanna head back to my place?”

After a long look Xander tried to read but couldn’t, Spike nodded. “Sure.”

_________________________________________________________

Xander lived in a posh two-story house in the Garden District. Spike was pretty sure that, with all the foliage surrounding the house, he could stand outside at noon on a summer day and not burn. Xander pulled the car, a sleek little silver Miata convertible, into the garage and led the way to the front door.

He stepped in and turned. “This is my home, Spike. You are welcome in it,” he pronounced formally. Spike entered. Looking around, he was amazed.

“I don’t know how to tell you this, pet, but I may have rubbed off on you.”

Xander took a step and closed the distance between Spike and him. He molded his front to Spike’s back and leaned over his shoulder. Spike shuddered at the warm breath puffing across his neck. “I don’t know, Spike. I don’t remember any rubbing. Was I asleep at the time?” he purred.

Spike sucked in an unneeded breath. “Err…I meant my taste…in furniture and decorations!” he finished, tripping over his own tongue as Xander’s tongue seared the flesh in the crook of his neck.

“Ah…furniture. Well,” he continued, ghosting his lips just above Spike’s skin. “I guess in my line of work, leather grows on you. I like to feel sensual. At work, at home. I wanted an environment where I could feel sexy no matter what I was doing.” He trailed his mouth up to Spike’s ear, smiling in triumph when the vampire let out a breathy moan.

“W-well, Xan…I don’t think you have much to worry about.” Spike closed his eyes. “I’m thinking I’d wanna fuck you if you were giving me communion.” A low chuckle was his answer and the warmth left his back. He nearly staggered at the loss.

“So, liked the show, did you?” Xander kicked his boots off and headed for the kitchen.

Spike took a moment to pull himself together before following Xander into the other room. “Yeah. Liked it a lot.”

Xander stopped and looked him in the eyes. Heavy-lidded brown eyes, seething with sensuality, met confused blue ones, full of thwarted need. “I liked you watching, Spike, and that’s unusual. Mostly, I just get up there and dance for me. Sometimes I do it for the tips. But I’ve never done it for anyone else before. Tonight, I was dancing for you. I have to admit, that’s a real turn on.” He stared for a moment more and then moved on to the fridge.

He pulled out two beers and tossed one to Spike, who caught it with trembling hands. Hopping up on the counter, he twisted the cap off and tilted his long neck back to pour the liquid down his throat. Spike swallowed heavily.

“Are you trying to kill me, Xander?’ He whispered.

“Why do you ask?”

“What is going on here?” He demanded. “Last I knew, you hated me. Blamed me for…well, for everything that ever went wrong with you and your group. You wanted to stake me. I run into you in a different city and bam! That Xander is gone. In his place is this…very fucking hot exotic dancer who seems to be trying to seduce me. What gives?”

Xander shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“Yeah,” Spike threw his words back at him. “I think it does.”

Xander chuckled and began idly picking the label off of the bottle. “I dunno, Spike. Looking back at it all, it seems so fucking stupid. I didn’t want to get married. The break up was all me. I may as well have sent Anya to you. I was just looking for some reason for it to not be my fault. And Buffy? I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking there. Maybe it was cause I thought I was supposed to be pissed. Maybe its cause she was like a sister to me, and you know how brothers are about guys fucking their sisters.”

He looked up at the vampire. “I left all that behind me in Sunnyhell. I’m the new and improved Xander Harris.” He raised his beer in a toast. “All I know is that I don’t have the same hang-ups here that I did there. That includes liking you. I always thought you were pretty cool, actually.”

He smiled at the vampire’s shocked look. “I did. You never took anyone’s shit. You have a great sense of humor. You can kick some serious ass. I liked hanging around with you. I wondered what you were like in bed after the Anya thing. I must admit, I think I was a bit jealous. Of both of you.”

“So, you’re a bit bent, then?” Spike asked carefully.

Xander laughed. “Bent. I like that. Yeah, I guess you could say I’m a bit bent. I find men just as sexy as women. Sometimes more so. Like in your case.” He swept his eyes over Spike’s body in a way that was becoming quickly addictive. “I find you very sexy, Spike. Always have. I guess I’m just at a place in my life where I’m finally willing to admit that.”

“Oh.” Brilliant, William, Spike growled at himself. Very verbose. Perhaps you should try guttural grunts next time?

Xander didn’t seem to mind, though. He hopped down. “Well, I’m tired. I only have one bed, but it’s pretty big and really comfortable. I promise I won’t try to seduce you anymore tonight,” he grinned. “Note the emphasis on the word ‘tonight.’ But I would like if you would sleep with me. Just sleep.”

He looked so earnest that Spike couldn’t imagine refusing him. Right. Like that was really going to happen. Who the hell do you think you’re fooling, ponce? “Okay.” Oh, look! We’ve graduated to two syllable sounds! He took the hand Xander reached out to him and allowed Xander to lead him into the master bedroom.

The boy wasn’t lying. The bed was huge. He glanced at Xander and was a bit startled to see him shucking out of his clothes already. Spike stood and stared, as Xander got completely naked. Oh, dear fucking Lord. Spike mentally moaned when Xan’s pants cleared his hips. The boy was half-hard and very impressive. Spike moved his hands in front of his crotch, covering his reaction.

Xander flung the covers back and crawled into bed. Spike stared. “What?” the human asked.

“You…errr…you’re n-…you have no…” What? Am I bloody fifteen? “You’re naked.”

Xander looked down at his covered body. “Yeah?” He looked up at Spike with a twinkle in his eye. “That bother you?”

“Err…not exactly bother…but it’s very distracting.”

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry. “I think I have some boxers in my top drawer. I usually don’t wear underwear. It makes lines.”

Spike bit his lip and headed for the drawer. Lovely. Just what I needed to dwell on all night. Xander doesn’t wear underwear. Like he doesn’t wear pajamas. Like he isn’t trying to seduce me. Like I don’t want him to. Bloody hell, William. Shut. Up. He pulled a pair of silk boxers out of the drawer and hurriedly changed clothes, well aware that Xander was following his every move.

He climbed into bed next to Xander and lay flat on his back, covers pulled up to his chest. Xander snickered and turned out the light. “Do you know how goddamn cute you are?” Spike frowned. “No, really. You’re adorable. Come here, blondie.” He opened his arms. “I promise I won’t try anything tonight. You have my word.”

Spike reluctantly scooted over and let Xander close warm, strong arms around him. The human sighed happily. “I haven’t cuddled with anyone in…well, in a really long time.”

Spike laid his head against Xander’s hard chest, listening to the rhythmic beat of his heart. His eyes slid shut. Xander’s breathing soothed him in a way he hadn’t even imagined he needed to be soothed.

“Night, Spike.”

“Goodnight, Xander.”

Spike found his cheek pressed to the boy’s hard chest. Closing his eyes, he let the sound of Xander’s heartbeat and easy breathing lull him to sleep.