Alexa flushed the toilet in the dimly lit and particularly *un*fresh
smelling bathroom located at the back of 'Sinners and Saints' which
was a multi-species club. It generally catered to demons, but humans
were welcome. The music was loud and pounding, the drinks were almost
lethal and the clientele was... a tad on the scary side. Well... they
would be frightening to anyone who hadn't been born and raised on the
Hellmouth or to someone who had a history of dating a variety of
demon's. Alexa could claim both. That didn't make the bathroom any
less yucky, however.
She opened the door to the stall and quickly made her way over to the
sinks. Turning on the water as hot as she could get it, she began to
scrub at her hands. Three washings later, she turned off the water
and dried her hands. Turning sideways, she looked herself over in the
mirror.
She honestly didn't know whether to blush and cringe or primp and coo
at her reflection. After all, it was *still* a bit odd to look in a
mirror and see a beautiful female staring back. A part of her simply
expected to see the old lovable, if somewhat goofy, Xander in the
slick silvery surface. She had mentioned that to Spike once and he
had nodded and then grinned sheepishly and admitted that sometimes
*he* forgot he didn't even *have* a reflection and ended up doing a
double take at mirrors to see what had happened to 'break' it.
Smiling at the memory of that abashed confession, Alexa straightened
out the outfit that Cordy had dressed her in. She had almost told her
friend 'no way' that it was too much, but then Spike had seen her and
that was all it took. A simple, "Bloody hell Pet. You're effin'
gorgeous. I could eat you up, I could." and she had given in. As
embarrassed and hussyed up as the outfit might make her feel, she
could see how it would appeal to Spike and it *did* fit into the
atmosphere of the club.
However, *she* would not have chosen to dress herself in tight black
leather pants and boots and then topped it off with a blood-red
leather corset and a sheer black blouse tied off at the waist. Cordy
had not only chosen her clothes for the evening, she had also done up
Alexa's make-up. She still wasn't very comfortable wearing the stuff,
but Cordy had insisted and Alexa had agreed with her out of habit.
So, that was how she came to be wearing heavy black kohl around her
dark eyes and dark red lipstick on her lips. She had to admit that it
*was* a striking contrast with her midnight hair and pale skin.
Clothes settled back into place and hair smoothed over, Alexa walked
to the door and entered the main club back by the dance floor. The
music volume jumped dramatically and the air was thick with smoke and
the scent of many hot and sweaty bodies. Being careful not to bump
into any of the other patrons, especially the non-human variety,
Alexa slowly made her way back to the bar.
She knew the reason that they were even here was a good one. Gunn had
come to them with reports of street people turning up missing and the
local authorities didn't have the time, manpower or motivation to
delve into it too deeply. So, Gunn and his gang of amateur demon
hunters had done some digging. They had found the location where the
missing bodies had been dumped. After Wesley and Angel had gone over
to see the corpses, they had declared that it was the work of an
Ezzraly Demon. The only Ezzraly Demon anyone knew of liked to hang
out here on the weekends. So... here they were.
Spying Wesley over at the bar chatting up a blue hued demon that
sported a single horn from it's forehead like some demented bi-pedal
unicorn, Alexa angled herself to head in his direction. Circling
around what appeared to be two arguing humans, although one could
never be too sure if they were really humans or just demons in
disguise, Alexa finally made it to Wesley's side of the bar. Sliding
onto the stool next to him, she signaled the bartender and ordered a
vodka and lemon-lime soda, light on the vodka.
When her drink came, she tuned into the conversation Wesley had going
with the blue uni-horned demon and relaxed. When the demon noticed
her attention, Wesley even went so far as to introduce her as
his 'research assistant' and she felt a warm glow of acceptance in
her stomach that had nothing to do with the alcohol she was drinking.
Wesley went on to mention that the two of them were currently doing
research on Ezzraly Demons when *it* happened.
A rude, drunk, and offensively smelly human male pressed up along
Alexa's other side and leered in her face, showing off his nicotine
stained teeth and greasy hair. Alexa wrinkled up her nose at him and
leaned closer to Wesley to get as far from him as she could, but he
didn't seem to notice. He just stepped in closer and reached out with
one big meaty hand and patted her suggestively on the ass.
"Hey hunny. You're a hot fuckin' piece. What say we go off into the
back room and you give me some lovin'. Bet you're good at that, sweet
thing like you."
Completely against her will, she had a mental image of the disgusting
man without any clothes on and just barely managed not to throw up
her last drink onto his scuffed shoes. She didn't stop the shudder of
revulsion that swept over her, unfortunately, the drunken fool
thought it meant she liked him. He latched his hand onto her arm and
gave her a slight tug to get her to follow him. Alexa dug in her
heels and grabbed onto the edge of the bar to keep him from dragging
her off.
"Um... no way man. Uh... let go. I'm *not* going to have sex with
you. I've *never* had sex with a human... well except for a few hot
make-out sessions with Cordy... but that's it. And *you* are no
Cordy! And besides, even if I *did* want to have sex with a human,
which I *don't*, it sure as hell wouldn't be *you*! So... Let. Go."
With that, Alexa yanked back her arm and stepped as close to Wesley
as she could get. The older man gently pulled her back against him
and leaned his head over her shoulder to address the now scowling
drunk man.
"Now see here! I *really* think you should go find some other person
to disturb. Alexa here is not interested in you in any way, shape or
form. Besides, I think you'll find that forcing yourself on her
person will earn you nothing but a whole lot of pain. So, I suggest
you just... do as the lady said and go away now."
The arrogant man sneered and eyed Wesley up and down and then
dismissed him with a snort.
"Or what? You gonna do something if I decide to insist?"
Wesley offered up his own smirk in return.
"If I felt I needed to, then yes, I would. However, I don't have to
at this time. If you'll just turn around and look behind you, you'll
find Alexa's Guardian. I think *he'll* be the one to convince you
that you shouldn't be rude and offensive to her."
Rolling his eyes and obviously feeling very full of himself and his
status as the biggest meanest guy around, the drunken scum turned
around and came face to face with a pissed off and fully vamped out
Spike. Brow ridges prominent and eyes glowing bright yellow, Spike
gnashed his fangs at the man and watched as he turned pale with shock
and fright.
"That's *my* Delicious Pet you were being nasty to and I think you
need to be taught a few bloody manners, you stupid git. I think a
fatal case of being dead should do the trick, won't it?"
With that, Spike grabbed hold of the man and went to pull him in
close for a nice tasty bite. Suddenly, the bartender, a big brute
with three eyes, reached out and poked Spike in the arm.
"Hey! No killing the patrons on club property! I don't care if you're
William the God-damned Bloody,
them are the rules! and you'll follow 'em!"
At that, Spike smirked and Alexa broke out into chuckles while Wesley
just dropped his head into his hands and groaned. The bartender
looked confused.
"What? What's so fuckin' funny?"
Alexa pointed at her bleached blonde protector.
"He *is* William the Bloody! Of course... he goes by the name Spike
now-a-days, but it *is* him!"
The bartender grinned a silly grin and all three of his eyes got big
and round with awe. He began to bounce up and down on his toes and
wave his arms around in excitement.
"Na-uh! Really!? You're *the* William the Bloody!?"
Spike nodded his head and allowed his features to slip back into his
human mask. The smelly human still dangling from his grasp tried to
get away while he was distracted, but Spike refused to let go. He
just shook him up a bit and continued hold on tight.
The bartender pulled out his order pad and a pen and held them out
towards Spike.
"Can I get your autograph? I mean, you're like... *famous*!"
Spike beamed at the demon and puffed out his chest.
"No problem mate. Just let me take care of this rubbish that was
bothering me lovely pet. Then I'll sign that right up for you."
The bartender, now a happy camper and ever so helpful, pointed to the
back of the club.
"Just go out the back alley and down for about thirty feet. You'll
officially be off of club grounds at that point and you can kill 'em
as painfully as you please. Just... wait *one* minute."
Turning, the three eyed bartender lifted his face cupped his hands up
to his mouth.
"Yo! Lamar! C'mere a minute!"
Slowly, a tall gangly and frail looking demon with no hair and
greenish scales came over to stand next to the bartender and tilted
his head to one side in question.
"Look. I gotta go take care of something. I'll be back in a minute or
two. Watch the customers for me. Okay?"
The tall scaly guy nodded and the three eyed demon turned back to
Spike.
"Cool. Let's go. I wanna watch you kill this fool."
Grinning at his new friend, Spike reached over and brushed the cool
fingertips of his free hand along Alexa's cheek. She leaned into his
soft touch and smiled shyly up at him through her dark eyelashes.
"I'll be back in a minute Pet. You stay here with Wesley. He'll look
after you. Okay?"
Alexa nodded and blew him a tiny kiss.
"Yes Spike. You go have fun killing the nasty man."
Alexa watched Spike's leather clad back as he and the bartender
disappeared through the crowd with the unfortunate drunken man being
dragged between them until she could no longer see him. With a soft
sigh, she turned back to face Wesley and his new friend only to find
the Demon Hunter looking slightly horrified and on the verge of going
into what Cordelia called a 'tizzy'. Finally, the older man cleared
his throat and looked up at her.
"Is he *always* like this when you two go out at night?"
Alexa nodded and smiled gently trying to ease Wesley's conscious.
"Yeah... but he *never* kills good people. Only the bad ones. So...
it's okay."
Wesley frowned and looked her right in the eyes.
"Yes, but... does Spike *really* know good from evil? And even if he
does, what *right* does *he* have to decide these things?"
Alexa just blinked at him... she didn't have an answer to that.
Part Two
Alexa flushed the toilet in the dimly lit and particularly *un*fresh
smelling bathroom located at the back of 'Sinners and Saints' which
was a multi-species club. It generally catered to demons, but humans
were welcome. The music was loud and pounding, the drinks were almost
lethal and the clientele was... a tad on the scary side. Well... they
would be frightening to anyone who hadn't been born and raised on the
Hellmouth or to someone who had a history of dating a variety of
demon's. Alexa could claim both. That didn't make the bathroom any
less yucky, however.
She opened the door to the stall and quickly made her way over to the
sinks. Turning on the water as hot as she could get it, she began to
scrub at her hands. Three washings later, she turned off the water
and dried her hands. Turning sideways, she looked herself over in the
mirror.
She honestly didn't know whether to blush and cringe or primp and coo
at her reflection. After all, it was *still* a bit odd to look in a
mirror and see a beautiful female staring back. A part of her simply
expected to see the old lovable, if somewhat goofy, Xander in the
slick silvery surface. She had mentioned that to Spike once and he
had nodded and then grinned sheepishly and admitted that sometimes
*he* forgot he didn't even *have* a reflection and ended up doing a
double take at mirrors to see what had happened to 'break' it.
Smiling at the memory of that abashed confession, Alexa straightened
out the outfit that Cordy had dressed her in. She had almost told her
friend 'no way' that it was too much, but then Spike had seen her and
that was all it took. A simple, "Bloody hell Pet. You're effin'
gorgeous. I could eat you up, I could." and she had given in. As
embarrassed and hussyed up as the outfit might make her feel, she
could see how it would appeal to Spike and it *did* fit into the
atmosphere of the club.
However, *she* would not have chosen to dress herself in tight black
leather pants and boots and then topped it off with a blood-red
leather corset and a sheer black blouse tied off at the waist. Cordy
had not only chosen her clothes for the evening, she had also done up
Alexa's make-up. She still wasn't very comfortable wearing the stuff,
but Cordy had insisted and Alexa had agreed with her out of habit.
So, that was how she came to be wearing heavy black kohl around her
dark eyes and dark red lipstick on her lips. She had to admit that it
*was* a striking contrast with her midnight hair and pale skin.
Clothes settled back into place and hair smoothed over, Alexa walked
to the door and entered the main club back by the dance floor. The
music volume jumped dramatically and the air was thick with smoke and
the scent of many hot and sweaty bodies. Being careful not to bump
into any of the other patrons, especially the non-human variety,
Alexa slowly made her way back to the bar.
She knew the reason that they were even here was a good one. Gunn had
come to them with reports of street people turning up missing and the
local authorities didn't have the time, manpower or motivation to
delve into it too deeply. So, Gunn and his gang of amateur demon
hunters had done some digging. They had found the location where the
missing bodies had been dumped. After Wesley and Angel had gone over
to see the corpses, they had declared that it was the work of an
Ezzraly Demon. The only Ezzraly Demon anyone knew of liked to hang
out here on the weekends. So... here they were.
Spying Wesley over at the bar chatting up a blue hued demon that
sported a single horn from it's forehead like some demented bi-pedal
unicorn, Alexa angled herself to head in his direction. Circling
around what appeared to be two arguing humans, although one could
never be too sure if they were really humans or just demons in
disguise, Alexa finally made it to Wesley's side of the bar. Sliding
onto the stool next to him, she signaled the bartender and ordered a
vodka and lemon-lime soda, light on the vodka.
When her drink came, she tuned into the conversation Wesley had going
with the blue uni-horned demon and relaxed. When the demon noticed
her attention, Wesley even went so far as to introduce her as
his 'research assistant' and she felt a warm glow of acceptance in
her stomach that had nothing to do with the alcohol she was drinking.
Wesley went on to mention that the two of them were currently doing
research on Ezzraly Demons when *it* happened.
A rude, drunk, and offensively smelly human male pressed up along
Alexa's other side and leered in her face, showing off his nicotine
stained teeth and greasy hair. Alexa wrinkled up her nose at him and
leaned closer to Wesley to get as far from him as she could, but he
didn't seem to notice. He just stepped in closer and reached out with
one big meaty hand and patted her suggestively on the ass.
"Hey hunny. You're a hot fuckin' piece. What say we go off into the
back room and you give me some lovin'. Bet you're good at that, sweet
thing like you."
Completely against her will, she had a mental image of the disgusting
man without any clothes on and just barely managed not to throw up
her last drink onto his scuffed shoes. She didn't stop the shudder of
revulsion that swept over her, unfortunately, the drunken fool
thought it meant she liked him. He latched his hand onto her arm and
gave her a slight tug to get her to follow him. Alexa dug in her
heels and grabbed onto the edge of the bar to keep him from dragging
her off.
"Um... no way man. Uh... let go. I'm *not* going to have sex with
you. I've *never* had sex with a human... well except for a few hot
make-out sessions with Cordy... but that's it. And *you* are no
Cordy! And besides, even if I *did* want to have sex with a human,
which I *don't*, it sure as hell wouldn't be *you*! So... Let. Go."
With that, Alexa yanked back her arm and stepped as close to Wesley
as she could get. The older man gently pulled her back against him
and leaned his head over her shoulder to address the now scowling
drunk man.
"Now see here! I *really* think you should go find some other person
to disturb. Alexa here is not interested in you in any way, shape or
form. Besides, I think you'll find that forcing yourself on her
person will earn you nothing but a whole lot of pain. So, I suggest
you just... do as the lady said and go away now."
The arrogant man sneered and eyed Wesley up and down and then
dismissed him with a snort.
"Or what? You gonna do something if I decide to insist?"
Wesley offered up his own smirk in return.
"If I felt I needed to, then yes, I would. However, I don't have to
at this time. If you'll just turn around and look behind you, you'll
find Alexa's Guardian. I think *he'll* be the one to convince you
that you shouldn't be rude and offensive to her."
Rolling his eyes and obviously feeling very full of himself and his
status as the biggest meanest guy around, the drunken scum turned
around and came face to face with a pissed off and fully vamped out
Spike. Brow ridges prominent and eyes glowing bright yellow, Spike
gnashed his fangs at the man and watched as he turned pale with shock
and fright.
"That's *my* Delicious Pet you were being nasty to and I think you
need to be taught a few bloody manners, you stupid git. I think a
fatal case of being dead should do the trick, won't it?"
With that, Spike grabbed hold of the man and went to pull him in
close for a nice tasty bite. Suddenly, the bartender, a big brute
with three eyes, reached out and poked Spike in the arm.
"Hey! No killing the patrons on club property! I don't care if you're
William the God-damned Bloody,
them are the rules! and you'll follow 'em!"
At that, Spike smirked and Alexa broke out into chuckles while Wesley
just dropped his head into his hands and groaned. The bartender
looked confused.
"What? What's so fuckin' funny?"
Alexa pointed at her bleached blonde protector.
"He *is* William the Bloody! Of course... he goes by the name Spike
now-a-days, but it *is* him!"
The bartender grinned a silly grin and all three of his eyes got big
and round with awe. He began to bounce up and down on his toes and
wave his arms around in excitement.
"Na-uh! Really!? You're *the* William the Bloody!?"
Spike nodded his head and allowed his features to slip back into his
human mask. The smelly human still dangling from his grasp tried to
get away while he was distracted, but Spike refused to let go. He
just shook him up a bit and continued hold on tight.
The bartender pulled out his order pad and a pen and held them out
towards Spike.
"Can I get your autograph? I mean, you're like... *famous*!"
Spike beamed at the demon and puffed out his chest.
"No problem mate. Just let me take care of this rubbish that was
bothering me lovely pet. Then I'll sign that right up for you."
The bartender, now a happy camper and ever so helpful, pointed to the
back of the club.
"Just go out the back alley and down for about thirty feet. You'll
officially be off of club grounds at that point and you can kill 'em
as painfully as you please. Just... wait *one* minute."
Turning, the three eyed bartender lifted his face cupped his hands up
to his mouth.
"Yo! Lamar! C'mere a minute!"
Slowly, a tall gangly and frail looking demon with no hair and
greenish scales came over to stand next to the bartender and tilted
his head to one side in question.
"Look. I gotta go take care of something. I'll be back in a minute or
two. Watch the customers for me. Okay?"
The tall scaly guy nodded and the three eyed demon turned back to
Spike.
"Cool. Let's go. I wanna watch you kill this fool."
Grinning at his new friend, Spike reached over and brushed the cool
fingertips of his free hand along Alexa's cheek. She leaned into his
soft touch and smiled shyly up at him through her dark eyelashes.
"I'll be back in a minute Pet. You stay here with Wesley. He'll look
after you. Okay?"
Alexa nodded and blew him a tiny kiss.
"Yes Spike. You go have fun killing the nasty man."
Alexa watched Spike's leather clad back as he and the bartender
disappeared through the crowd with the unfortunate drunken man being
dragged between them until she could no longer see him. With a soft
sigh, she turned back to face Wesley and his new friend only to find
the Demon Hunter looking slightly horrified and on the verge of going
into what Cordelia called a 'tizzy'. Finally, the older man cleared
his throat and looked up at her.
"Is he *always* like this when you two go out at night?"
Alexa nodded and smiled gently trying to ease Wesley's conscious.
"Yeah... but he *never* kills good people. Only the bad ones. So...
it's okay."
Wesley frowned and looked her right in the eyes.
"Yes, but... does Spike *really* know good from evil? And even if he
does, what *right* does *he* have to decide these things?"
Alexa just blinked at him... she didn't have an answer to that.
********
tbc...
Message 2343 of 2374
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From: Scorpio <scorpio71@e...>
Date: Sat Oct 21, 2000 9:20am
Subject: FIC: A Second Chance (2/4)
It had been a week since Gunn and Angel had captured the Ezzraly
Demon that had been slaughtering the homeless and Alexa found herself
sitting off to one side of the main lobby of the Hotel reading
through women's magazines. At first she had resisted looking through
them because she felt really silly, but Cordelia had persuaded her
that she could learn a lot about what it means to be a female by
reading things geared specifically for women. So... she'd gotten into
the habit.
At first, Cordelia had just gone out and bought one or two issues of
everything she could find and just handed the whole stack to her. She
had learned more about hair, skin and weight loss then she'd ever
thought there even *was* to know in a relatively short time. As it
was, she now had a few choice favorites that she signed up a
subscription to.
Her favorite was more of a health and family style magazine and one
of it's prominent features were recipes for low fat dishes that
looked and sounded positively wonderful. As Xander, she had spent
almost 90% of her life living off of fast food and snack products.
They were cheap and didn't require any skill in the kitchen. That was
of the good since there was rarely any food in the Harris home and
the kitchen was an area to avoid unless you *wanted* to listen to the
drunken ravings of a bitter woman and chance a beating from an
alcoholic on the way to the refrigerator for more beer.
But now, Alexa had the entire kitchen of the hotel to work with and
she wanted to start eating *real* food. Angel was already looking
into modernizing it since he had two humans that lived in the
building and two others that worked out of it as a base of
operations.
While she was excited about the idea of a real kitchen that she would
not be afraid to use, she didn't have clue one about actually
cooking. Hence, the magazine with the recipes. She'd even considered
going out and buying a few good cookbooks from the local Barnes &
Nobel, but she didn't know where to start as far as that went. The
few recipes that she *did* look over mentioned a lot of things and
procedures that she knew nothing about. It also mentioned different
utensils and equipment that she'd never run across in her life.
Cordy had already mentioned that she knew next to nothing about
cooking and that she could only make the simplest of meals, so asking
her for help was out. She was almost tempted to ask Wesley, but she
didn't want to seem too stupid in front of him. She liked the man and
they worked well together, but she didn't want to disrupt the slowly
building confidence he was showing in her by admitting to something
as silly as not being able to cook.
She figured that she should talk to Spike about it. The vampire
didn't *need* to know how to cook and therefore, he probably
*couldn't*, but he *was* very old and had been around the block a few
times. He could at least point her in the right direction about what
to do.
Decision made, Alexa closed up the magazine that she'd been looking
through and was about to get up and go look for the bleached blonde,
but then the front doors opened and Cordy and Gunn walked in together
while in the midst of another of their arguments. Staying in the
background and keeping silent, Alexa listened. She loved watching
those two interact. They obviously had a thing for each other, but
neither would admit it and it was fun watching Cordy wrap a man
around her little finger when *she* wasn't the one being wrapped.
"Look, all I'm saying is that I think it's a good idea. I *know* that
you *think* you can handle yourself out there, but you're not always
going to be around Angel or me to back you up. Alexa should do it
too. I mean look at what happened at 'Sinners and Saints'."
At hearing her name, Alexa felt a bit less guilty for listening in.
Silently, she followed them with her eyes as they marched over to the
desk that Cordelia used. Her friend huffed at him and rolled her eyes
before sitting down and turning on her computer. The big black man
merely leaned against the counter and gave her the 'look'. The one
that said, 'trust me. I know what I'm talking about.'
"Listen Gunn, I think it's sweet that you want to help, but I've been
fighting bad guys since I was in high school. I mean, come on! I
staked vamps in my *Prom Gown* for God's sake. I can fight!"
Gunn rolled his eyes right back at her.
"Cordy, you said it was your mission or some shit like that, to keep
me alive. You're like my self appointed protector. Fine. Whatever.
Well, I'm gonna do that same shit back at you whether you like it or
not. *I* would feel better if you took this class. It's *just* a self
defense class. Only two hours a night, two nights a week for three
weeks. You and Alexa can go and if neither of you learn anything new,
great. If you do, it *might* just save your life someday."
Cordelia took a deep breath to answer him again, but Alexa didn't
give her a chance. This was something that sounded like a wonderful
idea to her. She wanted to do this. She had been having a difficult
time adjusting to her new body. It was lighter, less muscular and the
balance was completely different. The few fights that she had been
dragged into had been frightening because she didn't have the same
amount of physical strength or endurance she was used to.
Popping up out of her seat, she practically ran over to the Seer and
the Demon Hunter.
"Cordy! Wait, before you say no... I... I want to do it."
Both of them spun around to look at her and she could feel a bright
red blush creep up her pale cheeks. Cordy just gaped at her and
Gunn's expression turned faintly smug.
"What? You can't be serious. We've been fighting the bad guys for...
like *ever*!"
Alexa slowed to a stop and gave a slight shrug. She glanced down at
her shoes in embarrassment.
"Um... yeah, well. Uh... things are... *different* for me now. I
mean... I don't feel like I can handle myself as good anymore and I
was never that great at it before. I guess, for *me*, it would be a
big help... anyway, we could have, I don't know... fun. You know.
Just you and me. Doing this together. Besides... it'll give Gunn a
happy. Right?"
The handsome black man raised up his eyebrow on that last bit, but
didn't comment on it. Instead he turned back to face Cordy.
"See? Your *best friend* is asking you to do this with her. *I'm*
asking you to do this. What could it hurt? It's *only* six classes
and then... it's done. No biggie. Besides, the teacher is a good
friend of mine and he's... in the know, if you know what I mean. He's
very aware of the bad things that go bump in the night and once he
knows that *you two* fight them on a regular basis he'll work hard
with you. He's a good guy, you'll like him. Honest."
Cordelia rolled her eyes and made a big sweeping gesture through the
air with her arms and sighed.
"Fine! Fine. I'll do it. But! I want it on record that I think I
fight *just* fine as is. This is for *Alexa and you*. It's to make
you two happy. Got it?"
Alexa and Gunn shared a smile and then they both turned those smiles
on Cordelia. The Seer just snorted at them in amusement.
********
Alexa watched Spike walk out of their private bathroom in a swirling
cloud of steam. He wasn't wearing anything but a tight black pair of
boxer-briefs. She allowed her eyes to travel along his lean muscular
form even as her heart sped up and her cheeks flushed. She watched
him move about the room getting ready for bed and her arousal grew.
The way his tight and toned muscles shifted underneath his pale ivory
skin was a source of endless fascination for her and she often caught
herself wanting to reach out and run her fingertips along it. She
knew that it would be silky smooth and cool to the touch and as she
imagined the feel of his body pressed along hers a burning ache
settled between her legs.
Spike must have scented her desire in the air because he turned to
face her and offered her a delightfully wicked grin. He had no
modesty whatsoever and he took great joy in flaunting his beautifully
sculpted body in front of her. The only reason he wore anything to
bed at all was because the one time he tried to climb into their bed
naked, she had stammered and blushed and very nearly had heart
failure at the *idea* of lying next to his naked body. So... he wore
either boxers, or more often, boxer-briefs.
That didn't stop her from desiring him physically. Her hunger for his
body grew everyday and yet... they had never done anything more than
kiss. They had kissed many times since that first sweet and gentle
kiss on the day she'd chosen her new name. Sometimes the kisses were
hot and heavy and just this side of pornographic. Sometimes they were
tender and loving and oh so sweet. She never allowed the kisses to
get too intense in their bedroom. She was afraid if she did, that she
wouldn't be able to say no.
And right now, she just didn't think she was ready to take that step.
That would be the final step in accepting her new life as a woman...
and she was... scared.
Virginal.
The look he was giving her and the warm flush of arousal that was
making her break out in a sweat was not helping her to remain as pure
as she wanted... and even needed to be. She had to do *something* to
distract them or she was going to wake up in the morning a ravaged
and debauched woman. In slight desperation she cast about in her mind
and blurted the first thing she came across.
"Spike? I... uh, I want to learn how to cook. Angel's building a
kitchen, so... I want to know how to use it."
The bleached blonde vampire paused and his expression turned to one
of utter confusion. He blinked once or twice and then shook his head.
When he looked back at her, his expression was once again that of a
sweet and caring protector instead of the hungry and horny demon.
"If you want to learn how to cook Pet, then go ahead and learn.
S'fine by me. I don't rightly know too much about it myself, but if
that's what will make you happy. Go ahead and cook."
Alexa flashed him a sad little smile and shrugged.
"Um... some of those magazines that Cordy got me had some great
sounding recipes in them, but... I don't' know *anything* about
cooking. I mean... what does it mean to 'baste' something?"
Spike shrugged.
"Don't know. If you really want to learn, though, take a class. I
mean, isn't that what you young people do anyway. Go to school to
learn things?"
Alexa looked up at him and blinked. She hadn't thought of that.
"A class?"
Spike grinned and nodded.
"Yeah Pet. A class. Check around and find out what school's offer a
cooking class. We'll get you all enrolled in it and before you know
it you'll have this place smelling like a home cooked meal."
Alexa turned a beaming smile up at Spike. She knew he'd find a way to
solve her dilemma. Normally she wasn't very slow on the uptake, but
her whole world had been turned upside down and shaken and now
everything seemed a bit out of sorts to her. It was a simple solution
and it seemed obvious to her now, but she just hadn't seen it. She
had been too busy worrying about what was *expected* of her as a
woman to just figure out a way to make it work. But Spike had this
ability to cut through the bullshit and go right to the heart of the
matter.
She leaned back against her pillow and let different ideas and plans
swoop through her head and lifted the blankets up so that Spike could
slide in next to her. She rolled over to cuddle against him and
rested her head on his chest.
"G'night Spike."
His hand came up and long cool fingers carded through the heavy
weight of her shiny black hair.
"G'night Pet. Sweet dreams."
Alexa felt as if every male eye was literally *glued* to her black
spandex clad bottom. Granted, there weren't many men here to begin
with and she was certain that Gunn's eyes were roving over Cordy's
ample chest, but that was just *one* guy out of at least a half
dozen.
When Spike had seen her put on the shiny bicycle shorts and the
cropped green t-shirt while getting ready for her first self-defense
class, he had informed her she looked 'down right perky, like a
bloody cheerleader. All you need is a ponytail up high on your head
Pet.' It was at that point that Cordy came waltzing in to see what
was taking so long and *her* first comment was that Alexa should put
her long hair up in a ponytail. Alexa almost said to forget the whole
idea, but she *really* wanted to take this class, Spike's demented
cheerleader fantasy's aside.
Now here she was at the gym, long black ponytail hanging down her
back and shiny black spandex shorts showing off her ass to anyone who
wanted to cop an eyeful. She only hoped that she didn't *actually*
look as stupid as she felt. What's more, she hoped that she didn't
make a fool out of herself in the class.
Gunn had driven them to this first class in his truck and then had
personally introduced them to his friend as 'My Self-proclaimed
Guardian, the Seer Cordelia and her best friend Alexa, who has this
nasty habit of letting demons fall in love with her.' Alexa had tried
to defend herself by asserting that she didn't *let* demons fall in
love with her, that it just happened that way. The self-defense
instructor, Tim, had asked her how many demons had taken a liking to
her. When Alexa had said that there had been a total of four that she
knew of, Cordy asked if Spike was number four. Alexa had insisted
that Spike didn't *love* her, he was just looking out for her because
of Anya. Tim was alarmed and impressed while Cordy and Gunn just gave
her pointed looks of smug doubt when she mentioned Spike not be in
love with her.
Then, before she knew it, Tim was leading Cordy and her out into the
main part of the open gym floor and over to a group of fifteen other
women. The first class began.
********
Two days later found her sitting at one of the hotels many tables
filling out enrollment forms for classes at the local vocational
school. They offered adult classes in the evenings on a variety of
subjects. They also offered a variety of educational packages.
Everything from taking a single class all the way up to getting an
Associates Degree in certain majors. One of the majors they offered
was cooking. They also offered pastry chef classes and
restaurant/hotel management, but Alexa wasn't interested in those.
Wesley had promised to look over her forms once she was done in order
to make sure that she hadn't missed anything or that she hadn't
filled a section out properly. Some of the information was pretty
basic, but the financial section was a bit... confusing to her.
Someone who had only ever worked minimum wage jobs and whose
paychecks had been used up completely by rent and food generally
didn't have good experience in dealing with school loan forms and
what not. Wesley however, was almost an expert at it.
When she had told Cordy what she wanted to do, her friend had
instantly volunteered to sample any class assignments on the
condition that Alexa didn't char-broil it into a blackened brick. So,
with the forms in front of her, the kitchen in the final stages of
being remodeled and her guinea-pig in place, Alexa felt an odd sort
of excited anticipation that was totally angst free build up in her
for the first time in a long time.
********
It had started off as an innocent little kiss. Sweet, soft and oh so
tender. A mere brushing of lovely cool lips against warm full ones.
Then, that simple sweet kiss had deepened slightly into something...
more, with just the faintest hint of a nibble by blunt teeth along
the soft bottom lip of the bleached blonde blue eyed demon. In
retrospect, Alexa felt she should have realized that any type of
biting, even a gentle delicate nibble would be a *major* turn on for
a vampire.
A flash of gold in those bright blue eyes and a low husky moan of
desire later found her being pulled onto the lap of her undead
protector. With her long legs straddling his hips and his hard
arousal pressing against her suddenly throbbing sex and his arms
tight comforting bands of sheer strength gentled with tender care,
she discovered that she had *no* desire to pull away. She was
*exactly* where she wanted to be.
Spike's cool wet tongue slid along her lips and she gasped at the
tingles it let in it's wake. Her paramour took advantage of her
parted lips to slide that tongue into the warm cavern of her mouth
and she was plundered. A sizzling wave of emotion swept over her and
she felt protected, cherished, wanted and *desired*. For the first
time since the change, she felt *sexy*. And she liked it.
Hot wetness burst between her legs and her nipples grew tight and
hard. She became hyper aware of every inch of skin on her body and
she wanted Spike to touch all of it. She wanted to feel him pressed
tightly to her, his weight pressing down on her, owning her, making
her *feel*.
Knowing only need, but not quite sure how to go about getting what it
was she wanted, Alexa leaned her body even closer to Spike. Her
nipples brushed lightly along the hard expanse of his chest and
pleasure exploded across her body. With a breathy gasp and a shudder,
she deliberately brushed her breasts against him again.
"Oh gods *Spike*! T... *touch* me."
Instantly, he pulled his hands down and then up under her soft blue
sweater. Cool fingers left trails of shivers and tingles as Spike
traced delicate patterns along the skin of her back. Moving slowly
and gently, he dragged those delightfully sinful pleasure giving
digits along her sides and then across her stomach. She shivered and
moaned, leaned forward for another thought consuming kiss.
The taste of him never ceased to please her and she nibbled on his
bottom lip once more. Spike purred deep in his throat and Alexa
trailed a series of licks and nips along his chin and nuzzled at his
jaw. Taking the hint, Spike tilted his head back and she ran her
tongue along his jugular before biting down on it with her blunt
white teeth.
Spike's purr changed into a fierce growl and he thrust his denim
covered erection up against her hot body. She gasped and pulled away
from his neck at the intense shockwave of pleasure that ripped
through her at the feeling of him rubbing his length along her wet
throbbing sex. She had *never* felt *anything* like that before and
she *liked* it.
A LOT.
"Oooo... Do... do *that* again. *please*"
She raised her head to see that Spike was in full gameface, brow
ridges, glittery gold eyes, fangs and all. A pulse of hot desire
tingled through her at the very sight of his demon rising to the
surface for *her*.
With a toothy grin, Spike thrust his hips up again and that flash of
overwhelming pleasure burned through her and her sex *throbbed* with
need and there was this *ache* for *something* but she didn't know
what it was she desired, only that it was Spike who was doing this to
her. A shudder of electric tingles and sexual sparks washed over her
body and she found herself pressing her cotton covered crotch against
Spike's hardness.
He hissed in an unneeded breath and ran his hands up over the
material of her silky bra. She quivered at the delightfully delicate
touch and this huge craving for *more* rushed into her mind, swamping
all other thoughts in a liquid wave of *lust*. His fingertips traced
little teasing circles around her painfully aroused nipples and she
leaned into his touch, pressing her breasts into his cool hands. She
lowered her head back to his neck and sucked down on the pale flesh.
When his fingertips pinched her swollen nipples like twin clamps, she
*bit* his throat in shock. Her teeth dug into his neck hard enough to
break the skin. With a half growled 'Bloody hell Pet *yes* bite me'
echoing in her ear, Spike squeezed her tender flesh even harder and
he thrust up against her body again. A few tiny drops of Spike's
thick rich blood spilled onto her tongue, searing her with it's
intense taste and she bucked down on him.
Pleasure and pain danced through her body and she felt as if her mind
was melting from the heat inside of her. Her sex was *dripping* and
her whole body *quivered* and she felt as if she was seconds away
from imploding. All that existed for her was *need* and *Spike* and
this intense pleasure that she never wanted to end.
Shivering and gasping for air, she let go of Spike's throat and
whipped her head up. Grabbing a handful of his short blonde hair, she
pulled his head towards her and offered up her neck to his razor
sharp fangs.
"Bite me Spike! *Taste* me... I need to be in you... a part of you.
*hurry*"
She could feel Spike's body go stiff for a brief instant before he
shivered from head to toe. And then he swooped down on her in full
gameface and she felt his wet cool tongue along her skin for a swift
instant. And then a brief sharp piercing pain that sent sparks
dancing before her eyes and then he sucked in a draught of her
lifeblood.
Overwhelming pleasure and indescribable intimacy washed over her and
without thought she thrust down against his erection again. A ripple
of sensation raced along her spine and then she was lost as crashing
wave upon wave of pleasure tore her apart and remade her all over
again. Her sex throbbed and pulsed and a massive rush of *energy*
filled her body in a spiraling whirlwind of pleasure. She shuddered
and grasped at Spike's shoulder's with her hands hard enough to dig
her fingernails into his skin.
"Sp...Sp... Spike! OH GOD *SPIKE*"
She vaguely realized that Spike was squeezing her just as tightly and
that he had pulled his fangs from her throat and was roaring in her
ear and thrusting up against her sex repeatedly with his denim clad
cock.
She was left floating with a soft hazy sensation of satisfaction and
warm tender feelings. Aftershocks and tingles sizzled across her skin
in mindless patterns and she leaned her forehead down on Spike's
shoulder. She rested there a moment panting for the breath that had
been ripped from her only moments before.
Dazed and amazed and more than a touch confused, Alexa raised her
head and looked up at Spike. The vampire was back in human form again
and his blue eyes were warm and tender above his happily smug smile.
He was quite simply, the most beautiful creature she had ever laid
eyes on.
"Spike?... Um... what was that?"
He quirked one eyebrow up at her and grinned at her mystification.
"*That*, my dark beauty, was called having sex with your clothes
still on. Do you know how *long* it's been since I came in my pants?
We're talkin' *decades* Pet, *decades*!"
Alexa grinned at him and then felt herself blush. She was embarrassed
to admit this, but she figured that at this point, it didn't really
matter.
"Um... I think I did too. Cum that is. I mean, I *think* so... but
I'm not really sure. I've never had an orgasm before... well, not as
a *woman*, so I don't really have anything to compare it to."
Spike ran a fingertip along her cheek and grinned a sexy smile at her.
"Don't worry Pet. We'll experiment more so that you can figure it all
out. In *bed* where we'll have more room to play and less clothes to
get in our way."
Alexa smiled softly, leaned forward to drop a gentle kiss on those
lips that were flushed red with her own blood and then laid her head
back down on his shoulder and snuggled in closer for a hug.
Alexa double checked the instructions on the recipe and then
carefully measured out the proper amount of the individual
ingredients into the bright yellow bowl. Cordelia was acting as her
assistant and handing her the things she needed when asked. Cordy
also took away the used bowls, spoons and assorted other dirty
implements of food preparation and stacked them neatly on one side of
the industrial sized double sink.
Wesley didn't help with the cooking assignment. Instead, he sat off
to one side, flipping through a dusty old book and muttering to
himself about a spell. Not being able to take the suspense any
longer, Alexa turned with hands on hips to frown at the only other
human man besides Gunn and Tim that she trusted. He also happened to
be the one she personally liked the best. Alexa silently thought it
was the whole British accent thing he had going on, but she wasn't
going to admit *that* out loud. If it ever got back to Spike, he'd
either kill the man or tease him mercilessly until the end of time.
Instead of commenting on her kink for British intonations and
inflections, she confronted him about his eternal muttering.
"Wes! *What* is it you're looking for anyway. All I'm hearing is the
word 'spell... spell... spell...' being chanted over and over again."
Wesley glanced up at them and his eyes took on a painfully wistful
look with more than a smattering of pain thrown in for good measure.
It was an expression that Alexa had often seen flitter across his
features, but she had never seen it sustained for longer than a few
seconds at a time. She found that it was a hard expression to face,
but both she and Cordy had *lots* of personal experience with trauma
and pain and it didn't stop them from trying to connect with their
friend.
"Oh... well. I've been spending some time trying to find a way to...
alter Angel's curse. I mean, the curse gives him a soul that allows
him to experience a *wide* range of emotion, but that *damned*
happiness clause effectively shuts out the softer and more...
enjoyable ones."
The two girls nodded their heads and exchanged a brief grimace of
horror. This was *way* old news for them and each of them bore
personal scars left behind on their own souls from the Master Vampire
Angelus. And as such, they both became wary whenever anyone messed
around with Angel's curse. It was Cordy, however, that cut right to
the bone. She didn't want to *hurt* Wesley, but this was no matter to
hedge around.
"Look Wes, I can *totally* appreciate the fact that you're completely
head over heels for the boss-man. I can even admit to a few throw me
down and fuck me stupid fantasy's that star the dark and broody one.
But that's *all* it can ever be. As Spike would say, Rule number one,
don't shag the Sire, he's a total dick-head after a good lay. So,
*please* whatever half-assed plan you have to toy with Angel's curse,
*forget it*."
Wesley stood up with an affronted look etched onto his face. His eyes
sparkled and all traces of the quiet scholar was gone, instantly
replaced by the tough as nails Demon Hunter.
"Now see here! First off, I never said that I was researching his
curse for *my* benefit. I *never* said *anything* about sleeping with
Angel."
Alexa offered up an embarrassed but gentle smile.
"Wes, you didn't have to say anything, it's in your eyes when you
look at him. You love him and desire him. It's okay, we know and
understand."
But Cordy shook her head.
"Well, *you* might understand Miss I'm Sucking Face With William The
Bloody, but *I* sure as hell don't. Wes, this is *dangerous*. Angelus
makes the *Master* look like he was a naughty little boy in
comparison. He makes both Spike and Drusilla seem completely *sane*
and those two are the nuttiest creatures I've *ever* met."
Alexa frowned at her Spike being referred to as a lunatic, even if it
*was* true.
"Hey!"
Wesley waved that all aside with one hand as if it were rubbish and
pointed one finger at her in what Alexa thought of as 'lecture-mode'.
She smiled to herself. It must be a Watcher thing... Giles had done
it too.
"You're missing the whole point. I don't want to *remove* his curse,
just modify it so that he doesn't have to constantly stay depressed.
So that he can enjoy happiness. If you think about it, it's very
dangerous to have him running around *with* that loophole in place."
Cordy gaped at him.
"Wes! Hel-lo! He went for almost a *century* with that loophole!"
Wesley snorted and frowned at her as if she were daft.
"Yes. He did, didn't he. And during that time, he was *not*
interacting with any mortals, nor did he truly allow himself any type
of real life. *Now* he has friends, a cause, a... a... a job. He
interacts with all manor of creatures, including humans. He goes out
to bars and clubs. He reads books and watches television and *does*
things. How long will it take before *something*, *anything* comes up
and makes him *happy*? It could be *anything*! And there is no way to
prepare for it."
Wesley began to pace back and forth in front of the island counter
and Alexa tried to split her concentration between his rant and her
cooking assignment. She didn't want anything to burn, but this had
been building up inside of Wesley since before she and Spike had even
arrived in L.A. and as his friend, she owed it to him to give him her
attention.
"I mean, *think* about the endless possible scenario's. A small child
smiling at him in trust, a joke he hears in passing, a nasty case
closed for good, a chance encounter with a person who just makes him
*happy*. *Anything* at all and BANG we've got Angelus to deal with.
The other side of it is Angel himself. I can't *imagine* never
*allowing* myself any kind of comfort or joy. Of never having any
sort of real or meaningful contact for fear of getting too close to
someone."
Wesley stopped pacing and glared at Cordelia.
"And *yes*, my heart *aches* for him and all of the pleasure that he
is forever denied!"
And with that, Wesley stormed out of the kitchen leaving behind a
fuming mad Cordelia Chase and a saddened and concerned Alexa Willspet.
*******
Alexa practically bounced into her and Spike's suite of rooms waving
a sheet of paper in her hands and grinning like a happy fool. Spike
was lounging in one of the big overstuffed chairs while watching an
episode of his beloved 'Passions'. He turned his face up to smile at
her as she flopped down onto his lap and wrapped an arm around his
neck. She jiggled the paper in front of his face until he snatched it
from her grasp.
"What's this, then?"
She squealed with delight.
"I passed my self-defense class. It's a certificate of
accomplishment."
Spike flashed her a toothy smile as he read her certificate. Finally
he looked up and offered her one of his trademark smirks.
"So... you gonna be putting a right good hurting on the blokes now
Pet?"
She rolled her eyes at him humorously.
"No... well, not *yet* anyway. This just means that if some guy
attacks me, I know how to knock him down on his ass and run away
fast. But Tim also teaches Karate and I want to take the beginners
class. *Then* I'll be able to beat up any asshole that messes with
me."
She wiggled in his lap and looked up at him through her dark
eyelashes and tried her hardest to look all appealing and sweet.
"*Please* Spike. Can I take the class? *Please* I'll be like your own
Mortal Kombat video game come to life."
Spike blinked at her and then he leered. It was a dangerous and sexy
look all at once.
"Mortal Kombat, huh? You kicking some ass while wearing leather? I
like the sound of that. Okay Pet. You wanna learn how to do all that
martial arts stuff, I got no problem with that. Just remember, no
naked wrestling matches... well, except with *me* of course."
Alexa squealed with delight again and hugged the blonde vampire
tightly around the neck before pressing a loud wet kiss against his
cheek.
"Thank you Spike. You're the best!"
Spike chuckled low in his throat.
"I know, but it's nice of you to say it, luv."
********
Alexa sat at Cordy's desk and was surfing the internet. If anyone
found out *what* she was looking up she knew that she'd die of
embarrassment. Her and Spike's physical relationship had been
progressing slowly but steadily. She now *knew* what an orgasm on a
female felt like for sure and without question.
She had also found that, even though she still wasn't ready for full
intercourse, Spike could none-the-less bring her to a screaming
mindmelting sheet tearing orgasm in a multitude of ways. From rubbing
against her sex with his erection or hands, to drinking her blood, to
licking and sucking her sex. And she wanted to return the favor.
So, she was researching blowjobs.
Spike had rubbed his cock against her thighs and belly. She had
stroked it and jerked him off with her hands. She had even gone so
far as to lick his cool cum off of his delectable abs. But she had
never gotten the courage to actually take his erection into her
mouth. And she wanted to. Badly. But she didn't know how and she was
embarrassed and afraid that she'd do it all wrong.
Anya had done it for her when she had still been Xander and male, and
she recalled that she had enjoyed it a lot, but those memories where
hazy and fuzzy. Almost as if it had happened to someone else. When
she thought of orgasms and sexual pleasure, she thought of Spike and
the wonderfully naughty things he did to her body. So... a crash
review course was called for.
Surfing through some of the sex websites, she found some truly sick
things that she didn't *even* want to know about and she'd found some
other sites that had made her panties sweat. At the moment, she was
reading through a hot and delicious description of the act and it was
making her mouth drool to think about doing it to her lover. She was
half tempted to reach under her skirt and finger herself.
Suddenly, the front door of the hotel banged open and someone walked
in. Feeling a painful flush of embarrassment flood through her, she
quickly shut down the window and disconnected from the internet.
Hoping and praying that she didn't smell as turned on as she felt,
Alexa looked up to see who was walking towards her.
And almost swallowed her tongue in shock.
Obviously annoyed and not so obviously armed, Riley Finn stormed his
way over to her when he saw her sitting at the desk. Panic began to
well up inside of her and for a brief moment her mind screamed at her
to run. But she couldn't move, her muscles felt as if they weighed a
ton and she knew she had that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look
going on. Cringing inwardly, she waited for him to start throwing
punches.
"Excuse me Miss. Is this... Angel Investigations?"
Alexa blinked. Excuse me Miss?... What?... Understanding flooded
through her followed quickly by a wave of relief. He didn't recognize
her. He hadn't been there the night that Anya changed her and she
hadn't run into Riley afterwards. Spike saw to that. The vampire knew
he'd have killed the soldier on sight, and fearing what Riley's death
would do to what remained of Alexa's mind at the time, he'd avoided
the mortal all together.
Now, here he was, at Angel Investigations, and he *didn't* recognize
her.
"Um... yes. Yes, this is Angel Investigations. I'm... uh, Alexa. How
can I help you?"
He flashed a small fake smile at her.
"Is Angel here?"
Alexa shook her head.
"No... I'm sorry. He's out on a case right now with his assistant.
Cordelia, the office manager, is with a client, but she's expected
back first. I'm still real new here, but I can try and help you. If
not, I can have either Cordelia or Angel get in touch with you when
they get in."
Riley's face twisted into an expression of black hatred and extreme
anger, but he controlled it and it quickly melted away into the false
smile once more.
"Yeah. Tell them Riley Finn stopped by. I'm looking for Spike and
Xander. Angel knows who they are and who I am. It's imperative that
find those two and I have a feeling Angel might be able to find them
if he doesn't already know where they are."
Riley leaned over the desk then and it was all Alexa could do not to
flinch away as the ex-commando grabbed up a pen and jotted a series
of numbers onto a pad of paper.
"Tell him that I can be reached at this number. I'm only going to be
in town for two nights, and that's where I'll be."
"Okay. I will."
Alexa offered up her own version of the fake smile and Riley nodded
once before he turned and walked back out the door. The moment he was
gone, all strength fled her body and her knees went weak with
repressed fear. She collapsed back into Cordy's chair and trembled.
She had a *very* bad feeling about whatever mischief that Riley was
brewing.
THE END
