Tara Bad

"You know, Spike, one of these days Riley's gonna get the upper hand on you," Tara says, sifting her fingers through my hair.

"And do what?" I ask, looking up at her from my comfortable position on the floor with my head in her lap. "Ponce doesn't stand a chance. He wasn't gonna singe me anyway - I had too much information."

She half-glares at me. "You know he'd kill you if he had the chance. He wouldn't need a reason. You're a vampire. That's all he needs." Her fingers were still in my hair. I don't know why she likes doing that. I don't hate it, so, no reason to tell her to stop. And, she seems much less nervous around me if she can reach m'hair.

"Uh huh," I mutter and close my eyes, I'm more than ready to just fall asleep, right now. If she keeps rubbin' m'head and combin' through m'hair, I will be asleep soon.

She seems content to just keep petting me like a cat. She did call me a tiger the other night.

"Spike," she begins and waits for me to open my eyes and look at her, "i-if you're l-lusting after Buffy, w-why do you…" she trails off and I sit up, turning to face her.

"Let you come here and play your little game?" I fill-in.

"Um, yeah. I guess."

I shrug. "I don't know."

"Harmony not enough company for you?" she snaps boldly and I'm not sure if it's her or the demon talking now.

"Stupid bint has her uses."

"So, why do you keep me around?"

I blink, slowly. "You, are much more attentive." I grab her head and pull her in for a kiss. She fights, but only for a moment, then she nearly knocks me over getting into m'lap.

Frisky little minx. Okay, now that we're both felines of some form… oooh, brain shut down, function on instinct now.

Actually, that's not entirely true. If I function wholly on instinct, there would be no more Tara, which would lead to no more me, so, some higher brain functions have to stick around for a little while. I don't seem to need to be doing much, though. Tara's kind of taken over the show here and she's doing quite a fine job of it. Who am I to stand in her way? Not that I could stand now if I wanted to.

"Spike," she hisses, clamping her hands behind my neck, rocking hard and it's all I can do to keep us from toppling over and one of us cracking a head. I feel her body relax and she slumps against my chest. Then, as though suddenly stunned, she sits bolt upright and stares me straight in the face. "Oh my God. What have I done?" she asks as she backs away from me, skittering across the floor.

"Pet, you've been doing this for a while now. Why suddenly opposed to the idea?"

She stares at the floor, twisting her hands together and trying to cover herself. I get up from the floor, her dress in my hand, walk to her and hold it out for her to take. I'm still naked, but that's nothing new anyway. She doesn't take the dress, so I'm left here just holding it.

"Do you want me to dress you?" I ask softly. She nods nervously. I take a few steps forward and place a hand on her shoulder. Crushing the fabric in one hand, I slide the hand I put on her shoulder along her neckline to cup her face and kiss her. She's so sweet and shy, but full of a passion that I'm not sure she's even aware of. "Do you want to go?"

She shakes her head and slides her arms around my neck, crushing her lips to mine, nipping at my lips and tongue. She presses herself so hard against me, it's like she's trying to meld us into one being - which, ew. Bad mental image there.

I pull her hands away from my neck. "Love, I think you should get back. Red's gonna wonder about you."

She nods her head and takes her dress. Turning away from me, she slides the garment over her head and arms and straightens it, smoothing it into place. She turns back to me and, with her head low, walks to the door and takes her leave.

Part IV