Out of Bounds
Chapter One
“What the hell is going on here?”
Buffy rolled away from Spike at the sound of Willow’s voice. She’d known that seeing him at the house he and the witch had shared for the last year or so was a bad plan, but no place else was available, and she’d been sure they wouldn’t get caught; after all, Willow was supposed to be in Boston for another 2 days.
“Will, it’s not what it looks like...”
“Pet, I can explain...” Buffy and Spike both tried to talk at once, but were cut off by the look of rage on the redhead’s face.
“Oh, I’m sure your explanation will be fascinating, Spike. And Buffy, if this isn’t what it looks like I’d love to know what it is. You see it looks like my best friend fucking my lover in my bed.” Willow’s voice was cold and it hardened further as she addressed the vampire. “Am I right? Is that what’s happening, William?”
“Yes,” Spike answered quietly, surprising the Slayer. She had expected him to react with his usual bluster.
“And how long has this been going on?” Willow demanded.
Again, Spike answered quickly and truthfully. “Since that trip you took to Vegas for Comdex in November. But only when you’ve been out of town, and it’s never been here before.”
“I see. Is that supposed to make it better?” Willow asked sharply. She took a deep breath and addressed the Slayer. “Buffy, get dressed, so I can take you home. I’ll wait for you downstairs in the living room.” She then turned and looked at the vampire, “William, we will discuss this when I get back.”
Once Willow had stepped out of the bedroom, Buffy quickly gathered up her clothes and started to dress. She didn’t know what she could, or should, say to Willow. So, she turned to Spike, who was sitting numbly on the bed; the vampire could lie his way out of anything. He would know what to say.
“What are you going to tell her, Spike?” she asked as she buttoned her blouse with trembling fingers.
“I’ll tell her the truth,” he said, looking at the Slayer for the first time since Willow had broken in on them, “and I suggest you do the same.”
“The truth, Spike? Do you really want that? Do you really want to tell her we’ve been fucking every time she’s been out of town for the last 6 months? Then when she asks why, what do we say? Tell her I was so unhappy and lonely that I begged you to take me back into your bed, even knowing that you love her, not me?” She shook her head in denial. “No, I won’t do it, I won’t hurt Willow like that.” Having dismissed the possibility of telling the truth, Buffy paused and tried to think.
“Look, I’ll tell her it’s only been a couple of times. That we’d been drinking and one thing led to another; we just got carried away. Okay? If we stick with that, and promise it won’t happen again, I think she’ll forgive us and it’ll be all right. We just can’t have sex again, that’s all. We probably shouldn’t even be alone together very often” Slipping on her shoes, Buffy started to leave the bedroom. She didn’t like lying to Willow; it wasn’t right. But she was sure that telling the witch only part of the truth would be less painful for all concerned, and thus better in the long run. “You’ll back me up, right?”
“No”
Buffy’s head snapped around at the sound of Spike’s voice. “But Spike...”
“No, Buffy,” he repeated, “I’ll tell Willow the truth. I won’t make things worse by lying.” He sighed and buried his face in his hands. “I’m in enough trouble as it is. I don’t need to add to it. Red’s death on lying.”
“What are you talking about?” Buffy asked, grabbing the vampire and forcing him to look up at her. “Why the sudden change in attitude? You usually try to brazen your way out of trouble, not meekly admit your guilt. What gives? And why is Willow calling you William, all of a sudden? I’ve never heard her do that before.”
Spike swatted the Slayer’s hand away. “Never you mind about any of that. Just get your arse in gear and get down to the living room before she comes looking for you.”
“It’s a little late for that, William.” Willow said as she re-entered the room. “But that’s just as well, since I’ve changed my mind about taking Buffy home. I’ve decided that I’d rather deal with both of you here and now. It will only be harder to go through everything twice.” She gently, but firmly, pushed Buffy away from the vampire, then reached out and tipped his chin up to look at her. “However, I do think Buffy deserves an answer to her questions. Don’t you, William?”
Buffy saw a trace of embarrassment flicker across Spike’s face as Willow spoke, but what caught her attention most strongly was the look of sadness in his eyes. Spike was truly unhappy about what they had done.
“Well, William, I’m waiting,” the witch’s tone was hard and demanding.
“Yes, Miss... Ma’am. She does deserve an answer.”
“Then tell her.”
Buffy watched, puzzled, as Spike swallowed nervously before looking at her. Willow was stroking his hair gently, which seemed to give him some reassurance.
“It’s like this.” The vampire began, “I screwed up, and if Willow doesn’t just throw me out, which she’s got every right to do, I know I’ll be punished. I mean physically; that’s unavoidable,” he looked up at the redhead quickly, “and justified.” Turning back to Buffy he continued. “Lying about the situation, trying to make excuses for what happened, or mouthing off to her would only get me longer, harsher punishment, and I’m not fool enough to do that. She’d have my guts for garters.”
“Go on.” Willow prompted when he paused.
“She called me William ‘cause…‘cause I’m her sub and she was reminding me of my place.” Spike almost stumbled over the words in his haste to get them out, and Buffy gawked at him.
“What! I don’t understand,” she stammered. “Will, is this true?” As the witch nodded, Buffy blurted out “But he’s nothing like that with me! He’s all dominant and forceful and… Spike’s your—sub?”
“That’s right,” Willow explained, “or to be more precise, Spike’s my lover and William’s my submissive. We use the change in name to signal when one of us is interested in playing.” Then she tangled her fingers in Spike’s bleached locks and jerked his head back. “But this isn’t play, and you know it, don’t you William?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Spike began, but a sudden jerk of his hair silenced him.
“I tolerated that evasion once, William; I will not put up with it again. You’ll address me properly or you’ll get a dozen strokes right here and now—before we even discuss your punishment.”
“I’m sorry, Mistress, it won’t happen again,” Spike apologized, “and yes, Mistress, I understand that this isn’t play. It’s real and my punishment will be, too.”
“Yes, it will, William. Since I love you and have no intention of throwing you out, you will pay for your actions.”
Buffy had stood silently throughout this exchange. She was dumbfounded. These were sides of Willow and Spike that she had never seen and hadn’t even dreamed existed. In her mind, no matter how much Willow had changed, Buffy still thought of her friend as a shy young woman at heart. As for Spike, the Slayer had only ever seen him as a brash, aggressive, dangerous vampire whose ego had been badly wounded by the chip in his head, or as an obsessed lover with a taste for rough sex. Even those times when she had tied him up, he had been his usual arrogant self, not at all the way he seemed to be with Willow. Somehow, this just didn’t seem right; what was Willow going to do, spank Spike? That certainly seemed to be what she was suggesting.
“Will,” she said hesitantly, “I know you’re mad at both of us, and you have every right to be. But it sounds like you’re planning to spank Spike because he had sex with me! You can’t do that; he’s not a little kid! That’s not the way adults deal with problems. Look, I’m really sorry and I promise it won’t happen again. It was just a… a… well, I don’t know what to call it, but we never meant to hurt you...” Buffy’s voice trailed off as she looked up as her friend. It wasn’t hurt that she saw in Willow’s eyes, but anger, an anger that Buffy didn’t know how to appease.
“You may not have meant to hurt me, but you did. And what’s more, you’re wrong, Buffy.” Willow said, still gripping her lover’s hair tightly, forcing his eyes to remain on her and nowhere else. “I can spank William, or Spike if you will, for his misdeeds, and it won’t be the first time. That’s part of how our relationship works.” Then she paused, clearly considering the blonde’s words. “But you have something of a point; we are adults, and this is a—different—situation.” With that, she let go of Spike’s hair and sat next to him on the bed.
“Look at me Spike, please,” her voice was low and full of the pain and hurt that Buffy hadn’t seen or heard earlier “I don’t understand what happened here, and I’m not sure I want to. It’s a lot easier just to be angry with you—with both of you. I thought our relationship was working but I guess I could be wrong. Maybe you don’t want the kind of relationship we have any more—don’t want to be submissive to me. I hope it’s not that, but…” At her words, the vampire looked up from where he had been gazing at his lap and started to speak. But his lover laid a gentle hand on his lips to stop him. “Wait, hear me out. If it is that, if you want out of our relationship for any reason, or if you agree with Buffy that corporal punishment isn’t the right way to deal with this, then you have a choice. I won’t say it’s a good choice, Spike, ‘cause it’s not; but then this isn’t a good situation. I can’t just ignore what’s happened; I’m too hurt, too angry. So your choice is this: you can accept whatever punishment I impose, both as my sub and my lover, then the two of us can discuss things and go on from there, or you can move out and we’ll say goodbye.”
Willow sighed as she turned back to the Slayer, tears in her eyes. “Is that better, Buffy?” she asked her friend. “That’s as fair as I can be right now. If Spike wants our relationship to continue, particularly the D/s side of it, then I have to punish him. Not only will it deal with what’s happened, but it will also re-establish our roles, and remind him of what it means to obey.”
“Yeah, Will, it is fairer; at least you’re giving him a choice. I still don’t like it, but it’s fairer.” The Slayer hesitated a moment, then continued. “What about you and me, though? What about our friendship? I don’t want to lose it. I know what I did was wrong, a betrayal of our friendship, but I was desperate to be with Spike. I’d been so lonely and I needed him so much. Can you forgive me?” Buffy’s voice began to tremble as she went on, “What can I do to make it up to you? What do you want me to do? Do you … do you want to punish me?”
“Yes I do,” Willow said in a matter-of-fact tone that startled Buffy. “Oh, I know it isn’t fair, and I have no right to demand it since we don’t have that kind of relationship. Frankly, though, I want nothing more than to put you over my knee and tan your butt. I’m angry,” the witch’s tone changed, her anger showing, “perhaps even more at you than at Spike. He’s a vampire, even if he does have his soul, and moral fiber and fidelity aren’t traits vamps are known for. So his—misbehavior—is at least understandable.” She addressed the stricken-looking vampire briefly, “Not that that lets you off any easier. But you, Buffy,” she went on returning her attention to the Slayer, “you have no such excuses. You knew what you were doing, knew it was wrong. You’d assured me that it was over between you and Spike before he and I got together, and you knew how badly I had been hurt when Oz screwed around on me. So, even though I don’t have the right, I am insisting on punishing you. But to try and be fair, I’ll offer you the same kind of choice I gave Spike. You can accept whatever punishment I hand out, or you can consider our friendship over.”
“Willow!” Buffy exclaimed.
“I’m not saying we couldn’t be friends again, eventually, but I wouldn’t promise anything. I’m sorry Buffy, but that’s how I feel. You made your bed...” Willow took a deep breath clearly trying to get her anger under control. “Now, you both need to think about this, so if you’d take Buffy to the spare room, Spike, you can decide what you want to do, and I can try to calm down enough to deal with this.”
“Yes, Mistress,” Spike said and slid off the bed.
“No, love,” Willow stopped him, “Don’t call me that until you’ve made your choice. Until then it’s just Willow and Spike.”
“Isn’t any choice, luv; I’m not leaving you. You know I love you. What we’ve got’s too good to throw away, and I know any punishment I get, I’ve earned. That’s always been true and it sure as hell is this time,” the bleached blond answered. Then, to Buffy’s astonishment, he knelt in front of the witch. “Mistress, I’ve been bad, real bad. I’ve hurt you and broken my word. Please, punish me.” He looked up, “This isn’t just your sub talking, either; it’s your lover as well. I fucked up good and proper and I deserve any punishment you choose. Please forgive your slave, Mistress.”
Willow pressed a kiss on the top of his bent head. “My slave? William, are you asking me to collar you?”
“Yes, Mistress. I want to belong to you completely. Please?”
“Oh, love, you choose the strangest times to say these things. We’ll talk about this once you’ve been punished. You may not be so anxious to deepen that aspect of our lives then. Understand, William, I will be harsh. This will be the most severe punishment you’ve ever received, at least at my hands. You’ve stepped so far out of bounds I don’t know what else to do.” She sighed, lifted Spike to his feet, and kissed his cheek. “Now, take Buffy and go. Oh, and I will want you dressed. There should be some clothes in the closet there.”
Without another word, Spike held out his hand to Buffy. Wide-eyed at the scene she had just witnessed and wishing with all her heart that she had never gotten herself into this mess in the first place, the Slayer took his hand and followed him out of the bedroom and down the hall to another door.
