Xanpet 2
"Wakey, wakey, Pet." Cool fingers trailed across my face. That felt nice, but I couldn´t sleep under the constant assault of those tickling fingers and purring voice. "Come on, Pet. Open yer eyes."
"Gaaugh. Alright already, I´m up." Sleepily, I sat up in bed and looked at... Spike? I rubbed my eyes, because I had to be dreaming. Nope. Still the same. "Spike?" I gaped at the blonde vampire. "What the hell happened to you?"
Spike had always worn his attitude. Bleached hair, jeans so tight as to be obscene, and the ever present black leather duster and cigarette. Spike´s attitude had taken a one eighty. Sandy blonde curls framed his face and he wore a crisp white shirt. The stiff neck had been unbuttoned and a scrap of silk hung from the collar. I realized that this must have been an actual necktie of some sort. A dark gray vest buttoned up over his shirt and the cuffs of his dark trousers partly hid black leather boots.
My confused eyes met Spike´s laughing blue gaze. Spike never smiled. He smirked, he sneered. He leered at Buffy and grimaced at my bad jokes. Spike had never, in all the years I´ve known him, smiled. If he did smile, I never thought it would be at me.
Spike walked toward a heavy oak table and sat down facing me. His movement drew my attention to our surroundings. I lay in a wrought iron four poster style bed, the size of which suited the immensity of the room. A large stone fireplace dominated the wall to my right, and I could feel the heat from the blaze crackling in the hearth. A small couch as well as a chair and an ottoman had been set near the fireplace. There were no windows. Gas lamps lined the stone walls and cast a warm yellow glow throughout the room. Ritzy, but definitely not my apartment, I thought. Something weird is happening, Hellmouth–style. Spike lounged at the table, sipping a viscous red fluid from a crystal goblet. He behaved as though he owned the place.
"Spike, what happened?" I asked. "Why are we here?" I threw back the comforter, planning to confront Spike, only to drag the blanket back over me. "And where are my clothes?" I shouted at the smirking vampire. Of course, he could smirk about this. He was dressed.
"You hungry, Pet?" Spike ignored my questions.
"Arrgh!" I cried out in frustration. "No! I just want answers."
"Tell you what, Pet," Spike looked at me. "You come over here and I´ll tell you a neat little story while you eat." Okay, so Spike was going to spill to me, but it had to be on his terms. He might look different, but he´s still Spike. I tugged the blankets free from the bed and started to wrap them around me.
"No blankets," Spike said firmly, staring at me, "just you." My mouth dropped open.
"Hello, did you miss it when I flashed you earlier? I´m naked." Okay, I was getting a bit of the wiggins, because I´d swear that Spike just leered at me. Not only that but he kept calling me Pet. Spike had called me names before, but never Pet. The whiskeyed tone he adopted whenever he said that word made me want to shiver.
"Noticed that, Pet," he said, "but if you come over with the blankets you´ll get no meal and no story. I guess it´s up to you which is more important." Spike watched me and I snorted at him.
"Yeah, right Blondie. It´s not like you´re in charge." I gathered the excess blanket around my waist, clutching it in my hands. I tumbled back when Spike moved with inhuman speed to stand before me. The only thing that kept me from falling was Spike´s fingers tightly wound in my hair. I regained my balance, and my eyes watered from the stinging of my scalp. Spike wrenched my head back painfully, forcing me to meet his feral eyes.
"I am in charge, Pet," Spike growled. My heart stopped briefly at Spike´s painful grip, before thudding frantically in my chest. "Your ch–chip?" I stuttered in question. "You had your chance to hear the story." Spike released me forcefully, causing me to stumble back.
"Wait!" I cried just as Spike reached the door. The vampire turned to look at me, with one raised eyebrow. "I´ll go sit," I said softly, "wi– without the bl–blanket." I dropped my head. Blood thundered in my ears; I could feel the blush reddening my skin. I heard, rather than saw, Spike return to his seat at the table. I took a deep breath, planning to dash to the table as soon as I dropped the blanket.
"Not that simple this time, Pet," Spike said.
"What?" My head shot up at his remark; I clutched the blanket around me tighter. I didn´t have to go Full Monty yet, and I felt much more secure hidden from Spike´s eyes.
"Walk over here," Spike said authoritatively, and from the glint in his eyes I knew I wasn´t going to like what was coming. "No blanket, and this time I want your hands clasped behind your head. Walk slowly, or else I´ll make you do it again."
Oh. My. God. My jaw dropped. "You can´t be serious." Spike seemed amused with me. "If you want the story, and a meal, you´ll do it."
I looked down at my hands clutching the blanket, and then over at Spike. "Not a fucking chance, Blondie." I sat down on the bed, folding my arms across my chest. Chip or no chip, there was no way I could humiliate myself in front of Spike like that. If he was going to drain me, at least I wanted to die with my dignity. Spike stood up from his chair, and walked over to yank the door open. I frowned when he spoke in a foreign language to someone outside the door. It sounded vaguely familiar.
Spike turned back to me. "When you come to the table as you are told, I´ll explain your situation to you. Each time you refuse, the request will be made more difficult." He turned crisply on his heel and left the room.
I lay back on the bed. He could make requests of me all he liked. There was no way I would do what he asked. I had barely closed my eyes when the door was flung open. I yelped and jumped from the bed. Three burly vampires had entered the room.
Oh shit. I clutched the excess fabric. There was no way I could fight off three vampires. My eyes darted frantically between the three vampires, who were casually talking as they approached me. I had no clue what they said. They weren´t speaking English. I had no choice. I ran for it. The nearest vamp easily grabbed me, turning me toward him. I used all of that momentum to land a fist to his jaw. Uh oh. He never loosened his hold on my arm, but I had managed to piss him off. I twisted, desperately trying to free myself from his grasp. He snapped out orders to the other minions. I kicked out as one of the vamps lifted me up by my ankles and the other two gripped my shoulders. Together they hefted me up and carried me naked from the room.
