Beautiful Broken

Story by Lit Gal

Illustrations by Velvet Virago
......Illustrations are hidden under cover tiles, but they are not work safe.

Xander/Spike: Slavery, Non-con, D/s, Hurt/Comfort, Reference to past torture, Bondage
......NC-17 (not kidding, stop now if you're easily squicked)

Chapter 13:

Xander drove until night fell, and then he pulled off the side of the road so that Spike could take the wheel. His hands shook and the steering wheel was covered in sweat, but Spike had ordered him to drive, so drive he did. Unfortunately, with the sun beating in the front windows, Spike couldn’t sit up in front and tell him when to change lanes or how to handle the car that kept braking in front of him or which lane to get in or how fast to drive. Xander felt on the edge of his control when the setting sun finally allowed him to fill the last half of his master’s orders shouted through the curtain: to pull off in a rest stop once the sun went down.

“Master?” Xander called from the front and the curtain was shoved back as Spike threw himself into the passenger side door and looked out.

“Made bloody good time, we’ll get there in a couple of hours,” Spike offered without any further explanation about where “there” was. Xander breathed a sigh at having done it right and not wrecked the van or gotten them lost or gotten them stopped by the cops, but he just sat silent, not sure what he should actually do now.

“So, ya need the bathroom then?” Spike asked as he nodded toward the public restrooms. Xander considered his bladder and then the long walk to the public toilet with strangers wandering around cars filled with frighteningly normal children who yelled random insults to siblings. “Could do with a bit of a stretch myself,” Spike said as he opened the van door and started for the bathrooms. Xander snatched the keys out of the ignition and darted after Spike. Alone at night in a van was a little more than Xander was prepared to face.

“Ya need the bathroom, pet?” Spike asked quietly once Xander caught up and Xander looked at all the children dashing around the picnic tables, freed from the confines of the car while their parents took aspirin and argued about who had to drive the next stretch of road.

“Yes,” Xander said, intentionally keeping his voice low and biting his tongue to avoid saying ‘Master’ in public. Xander flinched as he waited for a reaction, but Spike didn’t comment; he just continued to walk to the bathroom where he leaned against the outside wall and made it clear that he would wait. Part of Xander felt like thanking Spike, preferably by falling to his knees. Another part insisted on saying upright in public and just a tiny bit of him resented the fact that Spike stood there as if Xander couldn’t be trusted to go to the bathroom alone.

Xander finished quickly, bothered by the strangeness of being in a public bathroom with people whose biggest concerns included whether to buy a new car or keep fixing the junker that sucked up money in repair bills. He hurried back to Spike who stood watching a pair of bikers who were setting up camp at a table recently abandoned by a family. Xander looked at Spike, trying to decipher the strange expression, but the moment passed and Spike flicked away his cigarette as he started back for the van.

“You want ta drive then?” Spike asked, and Xander didn’t even hesitate in his answer.

“No, Master.” Oh shit, the father in the blue shirt had heard that and was now ushering his young impressionable children away from the weirdoes. Xander ducked his head in embarrassment. Spike ignored the father and his slave as he strode back to the van and jumped into the driver’s seat. Xander quickly scampered into the passenger side and then sat there in a near panic over sitting in the seat, especially when there was a nice wide space between the seats where he could kneel.

“Keys?” Spike asked and Xander handed them over without comment. Spike started the van and then began pulling out seemingly without looking. “What ya thinkin’, pet?” Spike asked, and Xander had to really stop and think about the answer. His thoughts weren’t as clear as they used to be, not that his thoughts were ever crystal clear, not like Willow’s, and Xander felt a stab of gilt and pain. He pushed away the pain and focused on his master’s question.

“I don’t know what to do, Master.” Xander admitted.

“Are we talkin’ metaphysical, meaning of life rot here, or are we talkin’ about where you’re supposed to sit in the van?”

“Um, the second, Master,” Xander admitted.

“Okay, Some part of ya says ta sit in the seat or else ya wouldn’t be sittin’ there. Why the seat?”

“Because I have just as much right to sit here as you,” Xander snapped defensively, and then he almost stopped breathing in fear. What the hell had he said that for?

“You’re right pet, you have every right ta sit in the seat, so why are ya feeling bad about it?”

“Because part of me says I should be kneeling,” Xander answered as he tried to get some sort of grip before he totally lost his mind. Of course, he might actually be a little too late for that.

“Why? What does the kneelin’ mean, pet?” Spike asked, and Xander looked over, convinced that his Master had just lost what little mind the vampire had to begin with, kicked once too often in the head maybe.

“Kneeling…I mean it’s just…it’s what a slave does.”

“Right, it’s expected. How often do I live by what other people expect?”

“Never, Master?” Xander guessed. The bleached blonde had always made his own path, usually by rejecting every known rule to do exactly what he wanted exactly when he wanted to.

“Exactly. Kneelin’ makes the master feel big and mighty, and I don’t bloody need your help there, and kneelin’ reminds the slave of who has the power. But pet, any power I have is because you trust me ta help ya. If you wanted, you could’ve refused to go with Joyce, and Giles would’ve protected ya. Bloody hell, the pouf would give ya every cent of mine he controls. But ya came back to me.” Xander thought about that. He had made a choice of sorts, but he wasn’t sure what choice he’d made. He just knew he couldn’t stay with Giles without both of them sliding off the cliff to insanity.

“Pet, why’d ya come back?”

“To keep from going insane and taking Giles with me,” Xander quickly replied.

“Too bloody late for the watcher, but I won’t let ya go slidin’ off. Ya came back because I’m older and despite my habit of making bloody stupid mistakes, I’m a hell of a lot wiser than you. So my power doesn’t come from you kneelin’ at my feet; it comes from us both knowin’ that I have the answers you need.” Spike paused a long time before continuing, “But knowin’ I’m tryin’ ta help means ya have ta let go and trust me, pet. Obeyin’ is not optional.”

Xander thought about that as Spike maneuvered the van through ever heavier traffic, cutting off cars with frightening regularity and making obscene gestures out the window until Xander was quite sure someone was going to shoot them. He thought about what Spike said, and in one way he found it comforting: the thought that Spike knew what he was doing and could fix things. He wanted to give in to that feeling and feel safe in Spike’s care. On the other hand, he found a corner of his psyche resenting Spike even more. The vampire was suggesting that Xander needed Spike and was metaphorically on his knees even if he didn’t have to physically prostrate himself.

Xander hadn’t come up with any conclusions more helpful than a realization that he was totally and completely screwed when Spike pulled the van up to a dark warehouse before fumbling around on the dash for a garage door opener. Once Spike had gotten the garage door open, he pulled into the totally black cavern.

“Home Sweet Home,” Spike announced.

“What is it with you and warehouses?” Xander asked, so caught up in his own internal debate that he didn’t edit himself in time. Xander froze, but Spike just chuckled. The sound of the garage door sliding shut left Xander trembling in his seat and he grasped the edge of his seat and focused on Spike.

“I would point out it’s cheap, but I think we’ve established that I no longer worry about money. Funny, really. Angelus was always the one who worried about having money to indulge in human luxuries when stealin’ them wasn’t practical. Dru and me, we just took what we wanted and worried about the angry mobs later. Now I can soddin’ buy what I want, and it actually ruins some of the fun.” Spike opened the van door so that the van’s tiny compartment light created dark shadows in the large and echoing space.

“Stay there a bit,” Spike said, and Xander was relieved because he didn’t want to go out into that darkness. In six months he had lived in the light with the bright overhead fixtures never going off, and now the darkness scared him. It was like he didn’t know what was coming, so he couldn’t prepare. Xander waited until Spike threw a breaker or a set of lights or something because the whole place lit up at once.

A tiny kitchen and living area at one end didn’t even make a dent in all the empty space with concrete floors and exposed girders. Spike could have hidden a whole fleet of vans in the space, but instead Xander could only see a motorcycle and a very simple, unassuming Ford Taurus. Shit, Spike hadn’t been kidding about the being prepared part, Xander thought.

“So, this is home for the next three days,” Spike announced as he crooked a finger, and Xander hurried to follow, slamming the van door behind him.

“Pet, you know we have a problem with going back into the slaver’s auctions, right?” Xander thought about it for several seconds before answer.

“Yes, Master,” he replied guiltily.

“Bloody hell, Xan. You don’t get to feel guilty about it; Giles and Angel did the mucking up this time, but here’s the thing, you don’t have ta think of this as real, okay?” Xander just looked at Spike in confusion. What wasn’t real?

“Pet, if ya have a question, ya gotta ask it. Bein’ around Dru so long gives me an advantage, but I can’t bloody read minds.”

“What isn’t real, Master?” Xander asked.

“What we’re goin’ ta do here, pet. When I put the hip chains on ya, it’s about play actin’. You play act the perfect slave, and I play act the part of a typical Master, and together we get the girls back. But when we’re like this, just talking, I don’t expect ya to be the typical slave because I sure as hell won’t be the typical master,” Spike explained. Xander listened, confused, and suddenly he realized that he hadn’t gone to his knees. He quickly lowered himself even as he tried to figure out what Spike’s words meant. Didn’t he belong to Spike? Didn’t Spike want him? So, the hip chains meant he would act like Spike was his master, but he didn’t have a collar, and it sounded like Spike was telling him that when they found the girls, Spike wouldn’t be his master any more.

Xander sorted through all the possible meanings and all his varied reactions before settling on one question.

“Don’t you want me, Master?” Xander asked. Okay, that came out far needier than he had intended, especially since a chunk of him didn’t want the vampire to want him. A good sized portion of him wanted him to stop wanting the vampire so damn badly that it hurt. Giles’ suggestion about counseling might not be such a bad idea, he decided.

“Bloody hell yes, I want you, but I don’t want you pullin’ yourself apart, and I can see that ya aren’t givin’ yourself to me this time.” This time? Xander tried to figure out what Spike meant by that, and then it occurred to him. When Spike had gone to Leshar for help, back when Xander thought he was going to be given back, Spike had publicly claimed him, and Xander had been relieved, joyous—hell, he was thrilled. He had given everything to try and make Spike happy after that, well…with the one exception of trying to deck him after finding out Buffy was dead. But overall, he had given himself to Spike.

Now he didn’t feel that wholeness. He could feel Giles’ and Angel’s judgments pulling on him and he just couldn’t let go. Of course, he also couldn’t walk away from Spike. The thought of facing a job or a home or a life without Spike left him so terrified that he couldn’t even see straight. He’d always leaned on someone else, given his strength to someone else to use. That led him first to Cordie and then Anya. And Buffy. He still wanted Buffy; she had been so good and so sure that he could have trusted her and would have happily died to protect her, but the slavers hadn’t given him that chance. Buffy gone, Giles losing it, Willow missing, Anya probably vengeancy again. He had nowhere to turn and the thought of losing Spike made his stomach twist in pain.

He realized that Spike had started talking again and he struggled to focus in and prove that he was obedient, not that he needed to be obedient, and not that there was anything wrong with being obedient. Or not being obedient. Whatever.

“But even if ya can’t give yourself to me, we have to learn to work together as a team to get the girls back. So, we’re going to do some practice, but it’s just play actin’, Xan. You learn to follow me the way you did at the last auction, and we’ll start gettin’ in with the demons who have the top of the line merchandise. So, don’t go tearin’ yourself up over this. Just let that part of yourself that’s fightin’ so hard remember that we’re fightin’ together to get the girls back; we aren’t fightin’ each other.

Xander considered that as Spike gave his first order.

“Strip.” Xander hesitated, but he told himself that he was fighting to get the girls back, not even Angel would find fault with that, so Xander quickly slipped off his shirt and undid his pants before sliding out of them and folding them to put them to one side. Once more he knelt, this time naked, and to part of him this felt familiar.

“Stay,” Spike ordered as he walked back toward the van. Xander could hear the various thuds as Spike threw stuff around recklessly, but when he came back, he carried a handful of chains that he dropped on top of Xander’s neatly folded clothes.

“Right, we’re goin’ ta let that little mistake pass since ya didn’t have your hip chains on yet, but tell me what mistake ya made that would have landed us both in trouble at the slaver’s auction.”

“I hesitated, Master,” Xander answered, allowing himself to fall into the pattern without guilt. After all, he was play acting to get the girls back. He kept telling himself that even as all the anxiety and stress and fear slowly eroded under the pressure to obey. Nothing was strong enough to override the near-instinctive need to obey.

“And what would have happened if ya had hesitated in the auction house, pet?”

“I would have been seen as a disobedient slave; you would have been seen as a poor master.”

“Worse than that, pet. We both might have come under suspicion for tryin’ ta crash their party. What happens if they think that we’re tryin’ ta spring some of the merchandise?”

“They’d kill us,” Xander suddenly realized how much Spike was trusting him not to screw this up, and the fear levels rocketed.

“Oi, ya have to start gettin’ your smell back now, pet? Not the best timin’.”

“I can’t do this, Master,” Xander whispered, and he heard the heavy slap before he felt the sting on his upper back. It was a slap with a hand, but it stopped him, and he checked his position in his kneel, spreading the legs a little farther, and gripping his left wrist with his right hand firmly.

“Did you have permission to speak?” Spike asked.

“No, Master,” Xander answered, the rules and forms coming back to him as he titled his head downward in shame.

“And do you have permission to be afraid?’ Spike asked.

“No, Master.”

“Bloody insult to me. If you think a few slavers could take out part of the Scourge of Europe and the Slayer of Slayers, ya aren’t thinkin’ straight. You focus on me and nothin’ else, ya hear me?”

“Yes, Master,” Xander let himself relax into the part. He needed to be the slave for this to work. All he had to do was be the obedient slave and trust Spike to do the rest, and boy that was a lot harder to do than to think, Xander mused.

“Stand up,” Spike ordered, and Xander gracefully stood, his hands still clutched at his back and his head down.

“What do these chains mean?”

“They mean I must obey every command without hesitating,” Xander replied immediately, remembering Spike’s words. Spike attached the delicate chain around Xander’s hips and the familiar weight helped him focus on his job and not on all the ways this could go wrong. After all, if they got caught, Spike would be staked, but he would go back to the slave pens, and that was not something he was willing to do. He wouldn’t even consider going near a slaver if he didn’t need to find Willow and Tara.

Spike remained kneeling and now fastened the leather and chain hobbles, forcing Xander’s legs together a little bit. The heavy leather cuffs clicked shut around each thigh and around the ankles, and Xander felt the helplessness rise up, but he let himself believe that Spike would protect him.

“What are these for, pet?” Spike asked as he gave a gentle tug on the chain running from thigh to thigh. Xander remembered the day Spike bought them.

“To keep me from running, Master,” he answered. A stinging slap warmed his thigh.

“Wrong, pet. I never thought for a moment you would run. Now tell me what these are for.” The slap certainly didn’t compare with anything his trainer had done, but Xander also didn’t want to earn any more than necessary. He thought about his answer for a moment.

“For when I don’t trust myself,” Xander finally answered, remembering his confession in the slaver’s auction where Spike had bought him.

“Exactly. If ya can’t trust yourself, ya tell me, and I’ll help ya through it, but if ya don’t let me help ya, you’re goin’ ta end up nuttier than Rupert: that is assumin’ that ya don’t get us killed first.” Xander spread his legs a little, straining the chains between his thighs and his ankles as he thought about that. Spike was trusting him not to screw up, so it seemed fair to trust back. Of course, Spike wasn’t the one now physically incapable of running, Xander’s favorite survival skill. Luckily, Xander’s body had gotten back into the slave mentality quicker than his mind because his body remained motionless as Spike stood and walked around him, stroking a butt here and a stomach there and a thigh in between. Xander kept his eyes down as he waited for his Master’s inspection to end.

“Ya have a problem, pet.” The tone sounded like a question, but Xander bit his tongue and avoided another stinging slap just in time. Slaves only answered direct questions. Xander breathed out heavily as he tried to get himself back to the point where obeying was automatic. Spike continued circling after stopping right after he made his comment, no doubt to see if Xander would slip. A tiny bit of Xander resented that manipulation, but that same part understood the need to get back into character. He didn’t intend on blowing their cover, and he knew Spike was too good of a liar to ever mess up that badly, so Xander told himself to just trust.

“Ya don’t have a collar.” Xander felt the tap on his butt, and he folded into the formal Position kneel with his back straight, his upper legs making a ninety degree angle with his lower legs and his head bowed. “Head up,” Spike ordered, and Xander complied, closing his eyes so that he wouldn’t look right at his master. He felt something cold and slithery around his neck.

“Why are your eyes closed?”

“It’s the rule, Master.”

“Not any more. If I tell ya I want your head up, ya look up.” Xander opened his eyes, and Spike reached around and unhooked something, pulling a silver chain from around his neck and showing it to him before reattaching it.

“Now pet, we can finish our work.” Spike said as he reached down to the pile again. “What are these for?” Xander felt the cool slide of his back chains against skin and he reminded himself not to give the snotty version.

“For doing what you would want me to do even without a specific command, Master,” Xander used his softest tones, the feel of the weighted stones reminding him that Spike not only trusted him but valued him enough to spend so much money on him.

“Exactly, pet. Ya have a brain and I expect ya to use it. Don’t need a dog following me around,” Spike ruffled his hair, and Xander let himself fall into the feeling of contentment at having pleased his master.

“And what’s this for?” Spike asked even as he bent over and tightened a leather cuff around Xander’s left arm.

“For figuring out a solution on my own,” Xander said, remembering drinking out of the sink faucet. An unexpected stinging slap on his hip made him gasp and rock slightly. A second slap came down, but this time Xander didn’t react.

“What was the first one for, pet?” Spike asked.

“I don’t know, Master,” Xander held himself steady, not sure whether Spike would punish him for not knowing. It was funny, the slaps were nothing compared to other punishments, he still shivered at the memory of the leather strings or the trainer’s knives, but he wanted to avoid them even more than he had the more severe tortures.

“It’s all right ta not know, just say ya don’t,” Spike reassured him, and Xander relaxed a little, still trying to figure out what had set Spike off. “Pet, I gave ya the right cuff for findin’ your own solution. What did I give ya the left cuff for?”

“I don’t know, Master.”

“I’ll tell ya this time, but don’t forget again,” Spike said, and Xander felt that need to please uncurl in his stomach as Spike gave him a task he could do. He mentally promised to never forget the left cuff’s meaning again….just as soon as Spike told him. “It’s for bein’ happy with yourself, being happy and tryin’ ta make me happy.” Xander now remembered the morning when he had woken in the cage to find Spike petting him. He remembered how good it had felt to not fight or argue but to be in his cage and enjoying Spike’s caresses. But now he imagined Giles in that room, looking on as Xander happily submitted to the cage and enjoyed Spike’s attention. Giles would have picked up the nearest wooden object and killed Spike.

“So, pet, why the second one?” Xander pulled his mind back to the present and reminded himself that he couldn’t afford to let himself slip. He couldn’t, and Spike couldn’t, and the girls couldn’t afford it either.

“I reacted to punishment, Master,” Xander replied. He’d known the minute he’d gasped that he would get another punishment, and he actually felt a wave of relief at knowing this answer.

“Right. So ya know the meanin’ of this one already,” Spike said as he tightened the right cuff on Xander’s upper arm, and Xander relaxed his muscles so that Spike could lace the cuff tight. When the vampire stood up, he held a single strand of black chain with three red crystals.

“Most important one, what’s this for, pet?” Spike asked. Xander thought of the best way of explaining his most important decoration, and the one he’d worked hardest to earn.

“For letting you help me with the pain, Master,” Xander finally said, and a cool hand didn’t just stroke his face, it also pulled him off balance so that he found himself leaning against his Master’s hip.

“Soddin’ right. Can’t none of us carry this pain alone, pet. Rupert’s goin’ under from the pain and won’t let anyone help him, and the pouf has lost track of himself and his life so much that he can’t see what’s right in front of him. Soddin’ idiots. Don’t want ya walkin’ down that path, pet.” Xander was released right before strong fingers played with the front of his collar, attaching the dangling stones. Xander felt the weight of the chains and the tightness of the leather bands and hobbles, and he let himself concentrate on those until he found a peace of mind he’d lost since seeing Giles again.

“Right, ya ready ta get into the role, pet?” Spike asked.

“Yes, Master,” Xander focused on the decoration as he thought about the fact that Spike had said they’d be here three days and then they could go look for the girls.

“Right, let’s work on heeling.” Spike walked away toward the van, and Xander rose to follow. His first step was pulled up short by the hobbles making his hip chains snap back unpleasantly and leaving his back chains swaying. Xander tried not to sigh in frustration as he realized how much work he needed to do. After all, slaves didn’t get frustrated, and Spike’s comments about his odor returning meant that he had to have this perfect if he wanted to fool demon noses.

Chapter 14:

Xander walked the length of the warehouse carefully, not that he could do it any other way given his current predicament. After a full night of having his slave follow at heel, Spike on day two had resorted to more drastic measures to help Xander regain his graceful gait. The worst part, Xander thought as he reached the end and turned to walk back across the warehouse again, the worst part was that he himself had suggested this. Spike had despaired ever getting Xander’s gait back to its sensual swing and Xander had pointed out the hobbles in a tangle of slave gear Spike had bought from his trainer. So now Xander wore not his beautiful leather hobbles, but the more functional training hobbles.

As Xander’s concentration dropped, he took too large a step, and the chain running from his ankle cuff through the strap just below his knee and up to the loop around his cock and balls tightened, pulling at him hard enough to make him wince, and walk slower. Xander heard a yardstick slap across a counter on the other side of the cavernous room, and he knew his Master had seen that mistake as well.

Xander turned off his worries. Of course the part of him that had made fun of him for standing still as a vampire had hobbled him to his own genitals still made little comments in the back of his mind, but he reminded himself that this was the only way to get the girls back, and then he shoved those thoughts as far back as he could because those weren’t slave thoughts. He needed to be the slave, so he concentrated on moving the hip chains as he walked with minimal damage to his manly bits and tried to keep the decorations on his upper body perfectly still.

For the seventh or eighth time that night he managed to find the rhythm, one that depended on letting go of the guilt and worry just as much as focusing on the body. He found it and slipped into that perfect slave stride and felt that moment of pride in showing off his perfection, and then he heard Spike rattling around in another corner of the warehouse, and he fell out of the rhythm just as quickly and gave himself a painful jerk. Whatever Spike was doing, he was still paying attention because he could hear the yardstick slap against the concrete with a sharp report. Another sound of something shattering interrupted his gait and another slap of the yardstick reminded him he had an audience.

Xander reached the far side of the path his master had set for him when he felt the hand at his back and he jerked, causing his hobble chain to jerk him. If Spike had set the things as tight has his trainer had, he would have pulled his own balls off by now.

“Oi, your not supposed ta be jumpy, ‘specially not when I’m the one doing the touching.” Xander didn’t respond, but he simple lowered himself into the Position kneel grateful both for the break from the constant walking and for the chance to give the chain some slack. He held his hands behind his back despite the irritating urge to loosen the noose around his genitals or at least rub away some of the soreness.

“Knees,” Spike ordered, and Xander immediately shifted into a hands and knees position, his legs spread slightly and his head hanging. He felt Spike’s hand on his backside and he seriously hoped that Spike intended on doing something because sex would mean freedom from the hobbles. Instead Spike started with the talking, and Xander resisted an urge to roll his eyes at the vampire’s ability to talk…and talk…and talk.

“How many mistakes, pet?” he asked, and Xander thought back on the number of slaps he’d heard with the yardstick.

“Eleven, Master.”

“And did ya pull the hobbles every time?” Xander hadn’t, actually once he had somehow gotten distracted trying to figure what Spike had been doing wandering from the kitchen to a far corner and back again. He’d stopped until the slap of the yardstick had gotten him moving again.

“No, Master.”

“How many times then?”

“Ten, Master.” Xander had no sooner said that then a hand descended on his backside leaving a stinging handprint behind.

“How did ya earn that, pet?”

“By walking wrong, Master.”

“Nope,” Spike said with three more slaps in quick succession. “Can’t say I care about how ya walk as long as ya don’t trip on me with a stake like that poor bugger back in Sunnydale. Damn funniest thing I’ve seen in 120 years. Nope, I’d give ya eleven swats if that was the case and you’re only gettin’ ten. So how did ya earn these?” Two more slaps fell on Xander’s backside before he answered.

“I don’t know, Master,” Xander said as he reminded himself that he’d felt actual real physical pain, and this wasn’t it. He also reminded himself that he was not so emotionally attached that he cared about disappointing Spike. He was failing on both counts because somehow a small slap from Spike hurt him worse than the bullwhip in the hands of his trainer.

“Good answer, pet. If ya don’t know an answer, you can always just tell me that ya don’t know. I’ll take one off the end for givin’ the right answer.” Spike landed three more blows, and Xander could feel the stinging heat in his butt. “Those are for hurtin’ yourself. Ya know how to let go and get into this, but ya won’t let yourself. Ya keep pullin’ yourself back out of the moment and ya gotta let go and just trust me.” Xander listened and he realized that he was pulling himself back out of the moment, but he didn’t miss the irony of Spike hurting him because he’d hurt himself. Not really his choice though since he was the slave.

“Floor,” Spike commanded, and Xander put his forehead to the ground, his hands behind his back and his knees pulled up under his body. He could hear Spike circling and he tilted his head slightly toward the sound. “Lay out.” Xander flipped onto his back with his arms and legs spread, the hobbles pulled tight but not more than an uncomfortable irritation. “Butt up.” Xander rose and spread his feet as far as he could while bracing his hands on the floor in an awkward position that both left his dangling bits…well, dangling and stretched the hobble chains. Xander could still hear Spike circling and he wondered what the vampire was up to.

“Stand up, pet,” Spike ordered, and Xander stood. “Ya need ta trust me, pet. Ya didn’t fight Leshar because most of ya didn’t bloody care any more, and I want ya to care, so we have to find a new way for ya to give up the fightin’.” Xander didn’t like the sound of that, but he didn’t have a vote on the issue, and quite frankly, given a vote he would probably still go along since Spike was the only viable option for saving the girls. His pride had already taken such a beating, that a little more humiliation didn’t even seem worth noticing.

But then again, if this really wasn’t such a big deal, why couldn’t he get back into the swing? As things stood, he would never pass as one of Leshar’s slaves and the rapid loss of his training would mark Spike as either incompetent or as someone trying to break slave training, and given the nature of the slave business as Xander had seen it, neither judgment would be good for either Spike or Xander. This was a small group of collectors who considered humans to be animals to buy and trade, show off and sell, display like a classic car and brag about like a well trained show dog. This was a jealous and close group with the same demons showing up at Leshar’s club over and over. Most demons could grab a human themselves, but Leshar and the other slavers appealed to the very small group who wanted well trained humans to use like domestic pets/toys/slaves.

“So, we’re tryin’ a new game.” Xander realized he had mentally wandered off again only when he heard Spike’s voice. God he was screwed. Spike tapped him on the shoulder in a clear command to heel before he headed over to where he’d been working all day.

Xander followed Spike to the far side of the warehouse, and even in the low light, Xander could see the glittering pieces of glass on the floor...or rather, all over the floor. When Spike stopped at the edge of the sparkling field, Xander knelt and considered the sheer size of the littered area and the scent of alcohol from the broken glass and he wondered how long Spike had holed himself up here after getting out of the Initiative. Or maybe it was after Dru left him, just before he'd made his encore appearance in Sunnydale. Whatever the reason, the sheer volume of broken liquor bottles spoke of pain and a not so healthy reaction to it. Not for the first time, Xander found himself wondering just how close Spike and Buffy had gotten before her death.

"So, pet. Are ya ready?" Xander wanted to ask ready for what, but that wasn't a proper response. He looked at the path winding through the broken glass, the trail marked by a strange combination of items that looked like beads and unpopped popcorn kernels and possibly even little chunks of cut up electrical cords, although he wasn't sure on that last one. He looked at the clear path in confusion and gave the only possible answer.

"Yes, Master."

"Good, 'cause ya have ta learn to trust me, pet. I won't let ya get hurt, and I won't even let ya hurt yourself, but I can only do that if ya trust me." Xander knelt at Spike's side, wondering what the vampire was going on about, but then he felt the material on his face, the material settling over his eyes and tightening. Xander's heartbeat started pounding, but he took a few deep breaths to calm himself as his Master blindfolded him. Spike hooked something to his collar, the clasp thicker than the connections for his decorations so that he could feel the cold metal clasp pressing against his neck, and then he felt the pressure on his collar. Xander stood without complaint, taking a tentative step toward that maze of glass that would rip his feet to shreds with one wrong move.

After three steps, he felt something under his foot, and he pulled back in fear, but the leash didn't loosen, and he eventually figured out that the things under his foot irritated and annoyed, but they didn't cut. When the leash pulled him forward again, Xander slowly moved his second foot into the maze, again encountering the annoying debris under foot. Xander took a deep breath and reminded himself that Spike had no reason to hurt him. Well, no reason other than the vampire/human thing, but Spike seemed strangely non-lethal for a vampire these days. And there was the whole basement chair tying incident, but he thought Spike had probably gotten his own back with the cage. The leash started to tighten again, and as Xander lifted his foot, he could feel the things that had stuck to his foot falling off as he raised his leg. He stepped into the maze hesitantly.

Spike might not really want a slave around, after all the vampire had bought him to keep him quiet, Xander had no doubt of that. But he had proved himself, and Spike had started teaching him how to fight, which wouldn't make sense unless the vampire planned to keep him, so permanently maiming him didn’t seem very smart, not that Spike always went with the smart plan. The angle of the leash changed, and Xander took a step in the new direction of the pull.

His foot felt the uneven floor and he struggled with himself, knowing he had to put his foot down and struggling against the fear that he would feel the cut of glass. The leash remained taut but didn't pull as he finished his step.

"Hands," Spike said firmly, and Xander realized that his hands had come up front as if to balance himself. He put his hands behind his back, grasping his left wrist with his right hand. The leash pulled in a totally different direction, and Xander turned to follow, stepping forward with only slightly less hesitation, but again his foot only encountered the dull and annoying debris of the safe trail. He heard glass crunch under shoes as the leash pulled him forward again, and the sound of crushing glass froze him in place. While he expected some sort of motivation--a slap, a whip, a threat--instead the pressure on his collar remained firm but steady. Xander took several minutes to get a hold on his fear and then he followed Spike's lead, stepping forward into the darkness.

Again, his feet found the path and this time the leash pulled on without giving him a chance to stop. Xander followed the pull tentatively and then the direction of the pull changed even as the crunching glass sound continued ahead and to the right. Xander turned his head to the side, toward the sound of Spike walking over the glass shards.

"No, pet." Spike said, and Xander returned to face the direction of the leash's pull. By the time five minutes had passed, Xander finally followed the pull without question, trusting that Spike would never lead him into the glass around him. Just about the time he finally believed that in his heart he felt his hip chains banging around his knees and his back chains rattling against each other. Xander stopped in the middle of a step, and the leash went slack.

"Pet?" Spike asked.

"I'm sorry, Master," Xander answered, wanting to go to his knees, but aware that blindfolded he ran a real risk of kneeling into glass, something he’d rather avoid.

"You're doing fine. What ya apologizing for?" Spike sounded honestly confused, and Xander wished he could see Spike's face.

"I didn't..." he hesitated. "I didn't trust you," Xander admitted.

"Bloody hell, gave ya reason enough ta not trust me, so I'm not surprised. Fact is that when ya trusted me at the auction I was soddin' shocked. Didn't quite understand and don't feel particularly good about the way I handled ya that first night or so." Xander thought about that first night in the closet, and he felt like he was the one who should apologize; however, he had no permission to speak so he stayed silent and trusted Spike to understand.

"So, ya ready to keep goin'?" Spike asked.

"Yes, Master." This time when Xander stepped out, he concentrated on his stride, keeping his chains flowing and taking the delicate steps that wouldn't cause the hobbles to pull on his genitals. Feeling the air moving across his sweaty body, he took several deep breaths and just relaxed into following the leash with increasingly confident steps. Suddenly the leash stopped pulling and Xander stood still as he felt the leather from the leash fall down and brush against his chest. A small flash of panic interrupted his new found calm, but he reminded himself that Spike was still there as he heard the footsteps retreat through the glass.

"Forward," Spike's voice commanded from a distance, and Xander took a small step forward and stopped.

"Oi, didn't tell ya ta stop, pet. Now walk forward." Xander took a deep breath and took as small as steps as possible as he walked through the maze blind and without a hand to guide him.

"Stop." Xander happily stopped and then he heard the snap. "Right," the voice ordered, and Xander turned 90 degrees right as he'd been trained. "Forward," Spike said and Xander started walking again. By the time Spike called it quits on the maze, Xander was easily negotiating the path, trusting Spike's voice to guide him as he walked with a strut that made his hip chains flow around his legs. When Xander felt the bare concrete floor under his feet, he expected Spike to take off his blindfold, but instead the vampire's hand took the leash and led Xander back toward the living area.

"So, who are ya fightin' now?" Spike asked as Xander followed the leash's pull with swinging hips and a bowed head.

"The slavers, Master," Xander responded without hesitation. He felt that easy obedience slide over him like a comfortable cloak, but he accepted its weight because he was fighting to rescue the girls. He obeyed the pull on his collar; he bent his head submissively. However, he also understood that this was play acting and he found his inner actor. Too bad that this desire to get into his part hadn't existed back when he'd done the whole Greek tragedy thing on talent night, but better late than never.

He was actually proud of himself for the act he was putting on. He was, however, man enough to admit that he was a little hurt by Spike's lack of praise, not that he needed to be praised for learning to mindlessly follow again, but still. Praise was of the good. Someone really needed to tell the vampire who owned him that. Xander stopped when the leash stopped pulling and went to his knees before his mind had even processed the fact that they had stopped.

"Right, so what happens when ya do good, pet?" Spike asked.

"I don't know, Master." Xander felt his heart speed up some. He hoped for something really good since just following his master back to a table without a specific order got him the back chains. He couldn't even imagine what this breakthrough was worth.

"Ya get a reward, pet,” Xander felt something at his lips, and he opened his mouth to the taste of chocolate, the rich milk chocolate with the caramel in the middle. The kind that broke into squares, and Xander thought he had reached heaven. He ate and then opened his mouth before even feeling the touch at his lips, Spike held out the chocolate, and this time Xander remembered his training, pulling both the chocolate and the fingers into his mouth as he sucked and licked those sticky fingers before pulling back to enjoy the chocolate square. The blindfold meant that he didn’t know whether Spike planned on giving him more, so when he had finished, he didn’t open his mouth. Instead he waited until he felt the touch at his lips before opening his mouth. Again, the chocolate went to the side of his mouth while he licked and sucked and explored the fingers that had delivered the heavenly food. Xander continued until the fingers failed to return, and then he couldn’t help a little whine of complaint. Spike laughed.

“Ya can take a boy away from his chocolate, but ya can’t take the love of chocolate outta the boy,” Spike joked, and then Xander felt the pull of the leash, and he stood, feeling Spike unhook his decorations and then loosen the loop around his genitals before taking off the cuffs on his legs and ankles. It had been a long day of training in positions and practicing his walk and travelling the maze which had taken a couple of years off his life, so he was ready for his collar to be locked to the foot of the bed so he could curl up on the floor with a pillow and sleep, except Spike eased him backwards towards the bed. Xander was surprised, but he allowed himself to fall onto the bed backwards and then strong hands moved him up toward the head of the bed and he followed their silent commands by cooperating with squirming motions that helped work him up into position.

Then he felt Spike’s long body press down onto his, and Xander became aware of Spike’s hard erection, and his own cock swelled in response. Okay, for someone who wasn’t gay, that felt much more like genuine interest than a programmed response to a command, but Xander figured he had a right to appreciate Spike’s attention since the vampire actually was the gentlest love interest he’d ever had. Bug lady tried to eat him. Ampata tried to suck the life out of him, Faith threw him down, rode him, and then tried to choke the life out of him, and Cordie had sucked the manhood out of him, and Anya had sensed his already straining cracks and had moved right in to suck the fight out of him and turn him into her living experiment in human sexuality. Yep, Spike the vampire, Scourge of Europe and Slayer of Slayers, William the Bloody who raped beside Angelus himself was the gentlest, kindest love interest of his life and boy didn’t that just suggest that he needed to trust someone else because he wasn’t that trustworthy when it came to running his own life.

Xander almost groaned when Spike slid off to the side, lying on the bed next to him, and Xander wondered if Spike was going to chain him in the bed this time. Oh god, Spike didn’t expect him to just sleep without the chains, did he, and he had not just thought that. Xander started to groan at his own patheticness, but then he reminded himself to trust Spike no matter where Spike had him sleep.

“So, pet, ya showed real trust today, proud of ya,” Spike said. “Couldn’t have been easy trustin’ a vampire, and ya did it for the girls. Ya got bigger knackers than Angelus ever did; he’d run at the first sign of trouble and save his own hide, never mind who he left hangin’ in the lurch, or hangin’ in the chains for that matter.” Xander lay on the bed and enjoyed the semi-normal moment of sharing.

“So, I figured since you let me do the steerin’ before, I’d let you do it now.” Xander lay on the bed and tried to decipher that comment. Steer what? Xander was so tired that he certainly had no interest in driving anywhere and the first chocolate in six months had left him feeling satisfied and ready for sleep. Then Spike picked up his hand and placed it on an unmoving and muscled chest. “Ya can do what ya like, pet,” Spike offered, and the little ding-ding-ding bell went off in Xander head. Oh, he got to steer that. Xander reached up to take off his blindfold, and a hand intercepted his own.

“No pet, leave that on. You can do whatever ya like, and remember that ya can’t hurt me. You do what ya need to and I won’t hold it against ya because you gave me something important tonight, and I know that. So, you take what ya need back ta feel okay with this.” Xander froze, unable to figure out what Spike meant for a moment, and then it occurred to him. He almost laughed, and in a way he felt a strange sort of relief to know that Spike wasn’t perfect because as much as the vampire always seemed to understand him, this time Spike didn’t get him at all.

When Angelus had broken William, he could imagine the anger and the frustration the younger vampire must have felt considering that Spike came out of that break. Now that Xander had taken the step to actually submit to Spike, willingly and without fear of being returned to Leshar, Spike was offering the thing that he had wanted from Angelus: a chance at revenge. Xander felt his stomach actually knot at the idea that Spike was willing to lie there and let Xander get out his frustrations, especially since he only had one frustration right now. Of course, Spike had said he could do anything.

Xander allowed his hand to slowly start moving across Spike’s chest, feeling the muscles twitch under his fingers as he encountered the bumpy nipple. He allowed his fingers to explore its shape as he felt the skin harden and constrict under his attention. Xander left the one nipple and allowed his fingers to travel over to the second one, not wanting it to feel left out. He lowered his mouth to where he thought Spike’s mouth should be and gently kissed, hitting either the cheek or the chin, but when he went to kiss again, he found his lips meeting Spike’s briefly before he pulled back and began to earnestly explore.

His hands ran up to Spike’s face and he used his thumb to explore the scar interrupting Spike’s eyebrow, and then suddenly the contours changed under his fingers and he found his fingers running over the thickened brows and wrinkled nose.

Xander moved to straddle Spike and he felt his own cock brush against Spike’s and he imagined the sight of them lying side by side. Remembering how Spike had curled up against his body heat when they had slept in the same bed, Xander lowered his body onto Spike and slowly started moving, arching his back as he rubbed slowly, using small motions of his body against Spike’s, and he could hear a growl start from beneath him. Xander dipped his head down and stole a kiss using the sound as his guide for finding Spike’s mouth, and he was rewarded with the feeling of Spike’s lips parting under his own allowing his tongue to explore the demon teeth.

Xander now started to work his way down the body one inch at a time, kissing the smooth skin, stroking the strong sides, sucking the nipples, and nipping at Spike’s skin as he worked his way down to his final destination. The blindfold meant that he needed some sort of guidance to his goal, so he trailed his tongue across Spike’s belly button, through the curled hair and to his final prize where he licked up one side before taking just the head of Spike’s cock in his mouth, gently sucking as he ran his tongue around the end which now protruded from the foreskin. Spike wanted to know what Xander needed, and so Xander showed him by slowly sliding up and down on Spike, each time taking more and more of the vampire into his mouth until he could feel the cock hit the back of the throat and then he pushed down hard, taking the whole member in and swallowing around it.

If his mouth hadn’t been so full, Xander would have smiled as Spike suddenly lost control and bucked up into him, growling fiercely. When Xander pulled back to breathe, he felt Spike spring up and Xander lost contact with Spike’s body, the blindfold leaving him confused as he felt the bed tilting with Spike’s weight. Before he knew what had happened, the vampire had grabbed him by the waist and physically flipped him so that he lay on his side with his legs facing the head of the bed and then Xander felt the twitching member at his lips and he opened to take his prize. He had just started sucking at the head in preparation for deep throating when when he felt a mouth on his own cock, and his hand flew out to brace himself, his grip finding Spike’s hip as he tried to not forget his own task, but Spike’s cock was definitely getting ignored.

Xander started moving his tongue around Spike’s cock head when Spike pulled back and blew on Xander’s cock, and the sensation of cold quickly followed by Spike’s warm mouth nearly made Xander come, especially since he knew that Spike’s warmth was really just his own body heat absorbed by the vampire. He redoubled his own efforts knowing that he couldn’t hold off long if Spike used his full talents. Xander pulled back and wet his own finger before reaching around Spike’s leg to touch the sensitive raised entrance which he rubbed with his slick finger before working just the tip in.

He pushed his finger in just as he took Spike all the way into his mouth so that he could feel Spike’s balls against his nose even though the blindfold prevented him from enjoying the sight. He was at a bad angle, but he pushed his finger in toward Spike’s prostate even as Spike started massaging Xander’s balls. Xander had to pause to catch his breath, gasping through his nose as he pulled back a little, and then he deep throated and swallowed and found Spike’s elusive little bump, and suddenly Spike’s mouth came off his cock and Spike growled his completion and bit into Xander’s thigh. Xander had been fighting to keep from coming before his Master, so he had no problem falling over the cliff himself, but the feeling of heat and the strange, sensual itch radiating out from the bite and engulfing his cock left him gasping and bucking, so lost to his own orgasm that more of Spike’s come ended up hitting his face that getting neatly swallowed. When he finally formed words again, his response was rather limited.

“Gah,” he managed.

“Oi, I’ll meet that ‘Gah’ and raise ya a ‘Bloody hell,’” Spike replied in a dazed voice. Xander felt himself pulled up and Spike yanked off the blindfold, leaving Xander blinking from the sudden light and the lack of blood to his brain after every bit he owned had just taken a vacation in his cock.

“Ya surprised me, pet,” Spike said with clear blue eyes that seemed more amused that annoyed by Xander’s unexpected reaction. Xander resolved to surprise Spike very, very, very often if this was going to be the vampire’s response. He waited silently for a question, letting himself relax into Spike’s embrace and laying his head down on Spike’s shoulder.

“So, ya aren’t mad?” Spike asked as he lay down, pulling Xander down on top of him.

“No, Master,” Xander honestly replied.

“Think we’re leavin’ a day early, pet. I want ta find the girls, and I’m thinkin’ ya could fool Leshar himself.” Xander doubted that, but he hadn’t been asked for an opinion, so he settled in and closed his eyes. Spike had a plan, and if everything blew up, Xander suspected that he’d have a plan to cover the plan, so wasn’t going to worry.

“Are you feelin’ ready, pet?” Spike asked. Xander tried to find an answer that would fit how he was feeling, but the ‘yes, no’ format of the question made it hard. Spike must have guessed his difficulty.

“What are ya feelin’, pet?” Spike changed his question to.

“I think Leshar would be horrified at my behavior because I’m not the mindless slave he trained, but not everyone at the auction said kind things about him when they walked by us in the booth. I think some of the other trainers will think I am trained even better than Leshar could manage, and that’s going to impress them. I don’t know if I’m ready, but if you say I am, I trust your judgment because I do want to go after the girls,” Xander said. Spike was silent for a long time.

“Yeah, pet. We’re ready. That’s the longest bloody sentence you’ve said yet, and ya even managed a ‘want’ in there.” Spike said and the vampire’s arm tightened around Xander’s back. “So tomorrow we head to the Sacramento auction and we try ta figure out which collectors trade in witches. Xander fell asleep dreaming of auctions and soldiers and Spike eating Riley even if Giles’ comments had make Xander suspect that Riley had tried to help even if he had failed. Riley hadn’t protected the girls and now Xander and Spike were going to fix the soldier’s mistake.

Chapter 15:

Xander stretched as he pulled himself out of sleep. Day three of the Sacramento slave auction and show and boy didn’t that sound entirely too mundane in a car show kind of way. Xander slipped out of the bed where Spike sprawled from one side to the other and retrieved his Master’s clothes from the floor of their room. Only fair considering that he had tossed them to the floor the night before. Xander put the clothes in the bottom drawer of the dresser with the other dirty clothes and pulled a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt out of the closet where he’d put the clean clothes after pulling them out of the duffel and folding them. He considered the cigarettes in the duster, but the last two mornings he’d laid the cigarettes and the lighter out on the dresser only to have Spike ignore them until they were ready to leave, and then he shoved the items back in those same pockets, so Xander decided to skip that part. His own decorations he untangled and placed on the top of the dresser where Spike could easily reach.

The room ready for Spike, so he slipped into the bathroom to take care of his own needs. He’d wake Spike after that. Xander rushed through his shower, eager to wake Spike so they could start making the rounds. Today’s agenda included getting the collar Spike had ordered from the same dealer who’d sold Spike the black hobbles and making the rounds of the slave pens. The last two dealers were expected in today, and Xander still had hope that they would find the girls. He lathered his hair and stuck his head under the shower to rinse. And if the girls weren’t here, Spike was certainly getting the attention he needed to get in with the big boys.

The first time a slaver had asked to use Xander to breed several females, Xander had nearly broken his training with hysterical laughter, but Spike had brushed off several offers now, and Xander was beginning to understand that the total geek who couldn’t get a date most of his high school years now had a future in prostitution…might have something to do with getting rid of his old wardrobe. Not that he would do the whole stud for hire thing, or rather not that Spike would. Spike had a habit of growling at people who suggested it. Xander found it a little cute, but then Xander suspected that he had lost his mind. Now clean and watered from the sink, Xander crept back into the main room and considered his possible approaches.

Since the night at the warehouse, Spike had left Xander to be the sexual aggressor, and Xander had risen to the challenge. He had woke that following day to find himself sleeping in Spike’s arms, not chained on the floor in an attempt to get them both back in the slave/Master mood, not cramped and skewered in a cage, not even stretched out and chained to the bed. Nope, sleeping with a vampire sprawled over him.

He had admitted—with a little prompting—that he felt strange about taking control when Spike was the master, but Spike had made it clear that he appreciated having a lover who didn’t beat him to get in the mood or walk away when he was in the middle of the act. Xander didn’t have to ask who did what to Spike, but he did find a little part of himself wishing Angel would find them because the more Spike let slip, the more Xander wanted to shove a stake up the elder vampire’s ass. But he would have time for torture thoughts later, Xander mused as he circled the bed. He was amazed that Spike could sleep through his slave openly circling and admiring a bare ass sticking up in the air, but Spike had explained that once the demon accepted Xander, the demon didn’t register Xander’s presence as dangerous, and Xander had found that short of yelling for help or dropping large objects, he didn’t have to worry about waking Spike. It gave him time to plan.

Deciding on his approach, he straddled Spike’s body and moved his hands to the bare shoulders where he started by pressing the heel of his hand into Spikes’ muscles, massaging away any tenseness with firm, long strokes before moving to work the pads of his thumbs in circular motions down Spike’s backbone. The vampire remained motionless, but Xander knew he was awake and faking sleep. In fact, the motionless body gave him away because Xander had learned that Spike as always in motion even in his sleep, always shifting a limb or moving his head or twitching a foot. So the only time he saw a motionless Spike was when Spike tried feigning sleep.

Xander worked his hands down to Spike’s ass, feeling the firm round flesh before beginning to actually massage. Xander waited until he could feel Spike relaxing, and then the dipped his head down and closed his mouth around Spike’s puckered bud, sucking gently and moving his tongue around the outside of the entrance. Spike gave up all pretense as he spread his legs and exclaimed loudly.

“Bloody hell,” he cursed, and Xander smiled in his own imagination even if his mouth really was too busy at the time. He reached down with a hand and started tickling Spike’s balls from the backside only to have the vampire start to wiggle invitingly under him. Xander increased both his suction and the pressure he applied with his tongue, slipping the strong muscle inside Spike’s body and trying to get as far in as possible given the tight fit. Of course Spike squirming didn’t help. Xander reached farther under and touched the full cock hidden underneath that strong, pale body, but he found himself suddenly faced with the cock as Spike flipped with inhuman speed. Xander didn’t waste any time but descended on the organ with relish, taking the head in his mouth and using his tongue to play with that wonderful foreskin. He felt Spike’s hands reach for him, but he simply put his own hands around the wrists that were trying to explore his body, and Spike stilled. Xander started to work more of the cock now, sliding down and then on the upstroke, running his tongue along the top of the cock head along that spot that always made Spike moan and tremble.

Entirely too soon for Xander’s taste Spike stiffened and came with a low growl, and Xander’s own cock finished without any additional help, so attuned to it’s master’s release, that Xander couldn’t have held back his own orgasm if he tried.

“Bloody nice way to wake up,” Spike said, and then Xander felt himself pulled up into an embrace. He cooperated with the arms that enfolded him by putting his head on Spike’s shoulder, both his legs draped over Spike’s left leg. “Feelin’ good about today, pet. We’re gettin’ close.”

Xander didn’t answer, but he did agree. At the last auction they had been left alone, but now various demons walked up to them and started conversations. Xander knew that part of it was his own outrageous behavior. He strutted down the corridors in Spike’s wake with his hip chains twirling and his decorations gleaming without a leash or even his master’s attention keeping him at heel. Other slavers certainly had humans that they kept close as pets, but Xander realized that very few humans weren’t chained to their masters’ sides, and very few had the grace of a pleasure slave without having the various hobbles and foot gear that enforced that motion.

Of course the other part was Spike, who most of the slavers seemed to want to take to. The Initiative had taken a few major players in the small slaving community, and then the destruction of the Initiative had sent a number of former members of the U.S. military into the various slaver camps. Spike had a bit of a reputation for having two encounters with the Initiative and surviving both. Several demons had even looked curiously at his head after learning that the human made chip remained inside. So, even if the girls didn’t turn up today, Xander was starting to get the feeling that success was right at hand.

Eventually Spike sighed and pushed him to one side, and Xander slid off the bed and to his knees as Spike went to shower. He’d discovered that Spike wasn’t comfortable having Xander tend him in the shower, so Xander waited. When Spike appeared still wet from the shower with a towel hung low round his hips, Xander went into the Position kneel and knelt as high as he could with his back straight as Spike attached one decoration after another, each time quizzing Xander as to the meaning. It did amuse Xander that he walked around essentially naked and it still took Spike longer to get him ready that to dress himself.

Xander stood when it was time for the black hobbles and Spike locked them into place and gave Xander’s butt a quick slap before snagging the clean clothes and dressing himself in a matter of a couple of minutes. Xander went and got Spike’s boots, kneeling and presenting them so that Spike could fasten them himself. Xander considered Spike little peculiarities and wondered why certain services seemed to bother Spike, but he was the slave, so when he found Spike uncomfortable with his slave kneeling and lacing his boots, his slave backed off.

“Ready, pet?” Spike asked as he stood and grabbed his duster. Xander rose from his kneel and walked to Spike’s side as Spike walked out into the hallway.

The rooms were in an area crowded enough that Xander had to keep his hips still to avoid hitting anyone with his dangling hip chains, but when they reached the wide corridors of the shops and booths, Xander started his strut with his hands behind his back and his upper body decorations hanging serenely while his hips chains bounced in perfect rhythm and his hobbles rattled without ever making him break stride. Xander hoped they would go by Leshar again because he enjoyed annoying his former trainer with his furtive glances and small smiles and taunting wiggle while he was kneeling. He enjoyed how much those things excited Spike even more. He’d found a new goal, and it included sexually frustrating Spike until the vampire took him back to the room and let Xander have his way with the vampire or ordering Xander to service him in the middle of the food court. Xander was happy either way.

A disturbance clogged the corridor as people stopped to watch a growing conflict, and Xander stepped closer to Spike and moved to his left side so that the vampire was between him and trouble.

“Soddin’ idiot,” Spike said, and for a half second Xander was afraid Spike meant him, and then he saw the vampire nod at a tall, bulky demon that seemed ready to eat a blue skinned female demon with a pair of curving horns and a curving body to match. Xander feared that the woman would get broken in half, but she just smiled mysteriously and shrugged her shoulders at the bellowing giant. “Bloke’s goin’ ta get his own intestines fed to him if he messes with a shurl,” Spike offered as he continued toward their destination, and Xander trotted along after him, curious but knowing that he would have to wait until they got back to their rooms to ask.

The arrived at the booth Spike was seeking, and the same demon blacksmith who had cut off Xander’s heavy leash and sold Spike the hobbles he now wore stood at the entrance.

“Problem?” the demon asked with a nod toward the corridor. Xander sunk to his knees still close enough to touch Spike.

“Idiot asked for a shurl tattoo and didn’t like what he got,” Spike replied, and just then Xander felt a pain in his back as a heavy weight came down on him, and he crumpled to the floor even as he felt a body above him struggle to its feet. Xander hadn’t even gotten to his own feet when he felt an unfamiliar hand pull him back away from the sight of his master in game face ripping into the tall demon that had just harassed the shurl. Xander pulled wildly toward Spike, but the hand on his arm responded by shaking him until his teeth chattered. He turned and found the blacksmith had a hold of him.

“Kneel, boy. Your master can take out a piedre demon without your help.” Xander suddenly realized the ridiculousness of him rushing in to rescue Spike, and he sunk down in a formal kneel, waiting for Spike to finish and give him some sort of order. The blacksmith demon released his arm to allow him to kneel, but then it stood with a thick leg on either side of Xander so that the back of Xander’s head was even with the demon’s crotch, and the others who had come to watch the match kept a distance so that Xander could actually focus on Spike’s fight.

“You … ever… bloody… touch… my… slave…again…and….I’ll…gut…you,” Spike announced, each word punctuated by a punch into the demon’s back as the thing slumped over a half wall either unconscious or dead. Xander would have assumed that talking to the demon meant it was still alive except for the fact that Xander had seen Spike go off on tirades against far too many dead creatures to make that assumption.

A small humanish demon came up, but Spike threw it off like a rag doll when it grabbed his arm. Xander thought that Spike would tear the demon’s head off, but suddenly the blue-skinned shurl with an amused expression and a head tilt exaggerated by those horns appeared and slid between Spike and the demon with the misfortune of tripping over Xander. Actually, Xander almost felt bad since he doubted the demon had meant to step on someone else’s slave. Xander found his own thoughts scattered when he watched Spike fall back away from the shurl as though burned with holy water. Xander had seen Spike go running in against baddies of the week that populated his nightmares, and yet this one small demon sent him backing away.

The crowd quickly dispersed now that the actual violence was over and Xander waited as Spike continued to warily watch the shurl who now glided away with a gait that reminded Xander of Drusilla. Xander heard a chuckle above him, and Spike turned yellow eyes in their direction. The blacksmith backed away at the same time that Xander decided to go to his Master. He stood and crossed the short distance to Spike and was about to kneel again when he found himself bodily picked up and laid stomach down across the half wall. Before he could ask what the hell Spike was doing, Xander figured it out on his own. Gentle hands swept his back and down his legs. The back chains were swept to one side and his arms inspected. Only then did Spike lift him off the half wall and repeat the process on the front. Xander kept his head down, but he felt a little like a five year old whose mother had stopped to wash his face with spit. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see other demons and slaves watching as Spike examined him in detail before giving him a tap on the head to send in into the Down kneel.

“Ya alright pet?” Spike asked.

“Yes, Master.” Considering he spent his life naked, he really was surprised to find out how much embarrassment he still had given the right circumstances. He could feel the warmth of his blush.

“Bastard bruised ya. Remind me ta give you some of my blood tonight, pet.”

“Yes, Master.” Xander was relieved when Spike stood and walked over to the blacksmith demon who still chuckled although much more softly once Spike approached.

“Thought I was going to inherit a slave when that shurl got involved.” Spike growled.

“Not bloody stupid enough ta tangle with mojo. Spend a hundred years with a vampire seer, and I know what kinda damage she could do when she set her mind to it; not goin’ ta get into it with a soddin’ shurl demon.”

“As angry as you were, I didn’t think you’d have enough control to stop. But I have to say I’m impressed with your animal. He could have been hurt, yet his only thought was to reach your side. He’s a good creature, and I’m pleased to see that the rumors that you wanted revenge were just rumors started by those who don’t like your kind.” The demon turned and went back into his booth area, and Spike followed. Xander trailed after.

“This is my best black mage steel.” He held up a collar that looked like a thick black necklace with open links and a textured pattern on the metal. Spike took the flexible collar and inspected it while Xander remained kneeling. He’d heard Spike order the collar and he hadn’t said anything, but he worried about what Giles would say when he saw it. The mage steel couldn’t be cut, so Giles and Angel would never take his collar again, but he wouldn’t ever be able to get it off. Even if he decided he wanted to live alone, he would wear the collar for the rest of his life. Xander might have panicked, but looking at the object now, he realized that it would pass as jewelry for the outside world. The demon continued talking.

“So, did you see what the shurl had done to inspire the lad’s original outburst?” he asked Spike. Spike removed the various decorations before unhooking Xander’s temporary collar even as he answered.

“Image of a broken tower. You’d think that these morons would learn to not trust a shurl, especially since their work can’t be taken off again.

“That depends on your definition of trust, I suppose,” the demon replied as took out a variety of tools. He patted the wood counter, and Xander took a quick look to his master who nodded before standing up and getting on the counter. A firm hand encouraged him to lie down, and he did as he felt the cool metal at his neck. A finger reached under his neck and pulled the circle around before the blacksmith started making gestures that Xander knew were binding magic to seal the collar. Spike had explained the magic of the collar in great detail. “I trust a shurl to speak the truth, but you have to want to see the truth when you ask for one of their marks.”

“I lived with a seer, and the only thing I learned was that the truth soddin’ changes dependin’ on who ya ask and the stars sometimes don’t know what they’re bloody talkin’ about.” The blacksmith chuckled as he finished his work.

“I can’t argue that, vampire; I tend to avoid seers.” Xander felt a slap on his leg and he opened his eyes and got down off the table at a gesture from Spike. “Of course I tended to avoid vampires on the assumption that they were all uncontrolled appetite and no sense. Obviously you’ve proved me wrong,” the demon commented. “And if you ever want to sell your animal, talk to me. I’ll give you a fair price and I’ll take care of such a loyal beast.”

“Not bloody likely,” Spike fingers suddenly moved far more quickly as he reattached various decorations.

“Well if you change your mind, I work all the gatherings,” the demon shrugged, and Xander knelt at Spike’s feet, grateful that he didn’t have to worry about Spike needing money considering the variety of offers Spike kept getting.

Spike left without another word and Xander followed. This collar was lighter than his old slave collar. The air could still move around it and it was loose enough that he could probably fit a couple of fingers under it. He would have to wait until they got back to the room to check that. However, the collar was heavier that the temporary one Spike had used on him. That had been so light Xander often forgot that he was even wearing the silver chain. Xander wouldn’t forget this collar soon because the black links weighted two or three times more, but even more of the weird making was the fact that this collar didn’t come off, wouldn’t come off. Spike had paid a small fortune for a collar that neither slave nor master could ever removed. Xander itched to touch it and look at it in a mirror, but he suppressed his urge as he walked the slave pens behind Spike, the vampire checking the newly arriving merchandise and repeating his story about wanting two or three witches for breeding with his new animal. Xander just tried to ignore that they were leaving the frightened and chained humans that weren’t Tara and Willow.

Eventually the pens had been checked and the clock warned that it was time to meet with two slavers to discuss buying some humans. Xander waited until Spike had finished talking to a trainer before speaking.

“Master?” he called quietly, and he could see through his lowered gaze, the trainer whip around as if to correct him, but he was Spike’s.

“Yeah, Xan? What is it?”

“It’s time to meet with Ulsha and Ty.”

“Oi, bloody forgot them, and Ty’s supposed ta have access to some nice stock.” Spike’s hand ruffling his hair told Xander and the unfamiliar trainer that Xander had done the right thing, and then Spike started for the food court. Xander followed at heel with his slave strut in full swing and his gaze down even as eyes followed the two of them as they traveled the full length of the partitioned off warehouse to reach the food court. Spike put money in his hand and then went to meet his contacts. Xander knelt at the side of a booth that offered the right variety, waiting for a break in business. The first time Xander had done this, someone had tried to label him an unclaimed slave and Xander had practically run back to Spike, but now the food court patrons had grown used to the sight of an unchained human…okay, relatively unchained human…getting the food. When the counter was empty, an employee leaned over and Xander put the money up on the surface without looking up and without standing.

“A serving of warm blood, a serving of slave ration with meat, and a bowl of pretzels,” Xander asked. The first two items always remained the same, but Xander chose a different treat each day, supposedly on the orders of his master. When the order came, Xander stood and nodded his head in thanks before taking the food to the table where Spike sat talking. Sliding into his position at Spike’s feet, he waited patiently.

“I have heard a lot about this animal of yours,” one of the demons said, and Xander took several glances out the side of his eye without being able to find any clue that this wasn’t a human. Maybe it was a human, but Xander doubted it. He’d only seen humans as slaves.

“He’s a treat ta own. Obedient and respectful,” Spike agreed.

“I heard he’s one of Leshar’s. Leshar does produce obedient animals.”

“Yeah, well it took me soddin’ too much bloody work ta get rid of some of Leshar’s trainin’. If ya want a doll that doesn’t move unless you move it, humans make some of those. Seen ‘em on the internet. When I first got my pet, he would pee himself with a toilet twenty feet away, and he wouldn’t react sexually without an order.” Spike raised his cup of blood.

“Yes, his methods are rather striking, but I’ve always heard that Leshar’s slaves couldn’t be retrained,” the one who fit Spike’s description of Ulsha said with obvious interest.

“Well my pet’s somethin’ special, though I have to admit that he’s a good deal easier to work with now that Leshar took some of the piss outta him.”

“You knew him before?”

“Oh yeah. Slayer and I tried ta kill each other more times than I can count, and he was always chargin’ in the middle tryin’ ta protect her. He killed more of my minions than any other human in 100 years of makin’ minions.” Xander listened to the conversation internally laughing at how Spike could so easily blend truth and fiction. Listening to his words, he could almost believe them since they came so close to reality.

“And Leshar turned the vampire hunter into a vampire pet. That would explain the price you paid; you made quite an impression on a number of people,” the human-looking Ty said with a smile.

“Couldn’t pass up the chance ta own him, could I? Not ta mention the fact that Leshar left him unopened, so I got the pleasure of driving into a body that hadn’t ever been used, and won’t ever be used by anyone else.”

“And some people claim vampires can’t appreciate trained slaves,” Ty said and Xander knew that Spike wouldn’t have missed that slanted look toward Ulsha.

“Oh my boy here converted me even though I have worked ta undo some of Leshar’s more idiotic commands,” Spike said with remarkable patience.

“Such as?” Xander felt a foot tap him on the butt, and he went into the Present kneel with his back and upper legs perfectly straight. He kept his eyes down, giving him a perfect view of Spike’s hand as it wrapped around his cock.

“Thinkin’ of givin’ ya a decoration here, somethin’ ta remind ya how much ya please me with the way ya swallow my cock and the way you spread your legs so pretty. Would ya like somethin’ wrapped around ya lettin’ ya know how much ya please your Master?” Spike opened his hand so that Xander’s cock lay on the flat of his palm. Xander struggled to keep his breathing even and his body obedient, but Spike’s other hand tweaked his back chains, and despite his every effort, his cock gave a respectable twitch. Spike laughed.

“When I got him, he couldn’t do anythin’, not even smell of fear or lust or twitch that cock of his without an order, but now he knows my touch and I like the fact that no matter how much he tries and how good he is, he can never stop his body from wanting his Master.” Xander wondered how the other demons were taking Spike’s speech because the table had fallen into silence. Spike withdrew his hand, and Xander concentrated on keeping the blood out of his cock as he brought his desire under control. Spike touched the crease of his ass, a command he rarely used, but Xander immediately switched into the Present kneel with his legs spread wide, his butt pushed up in the air pointed at Spike and his forehead on the ground with his arms on either side. Spike simply rubbed Xander’s backside absent-mindedly.

“Of course, I never could have trained him this well. When I knew him, he would have died fighting before kneeling like this.” Xander totally and 100% agreed with Spike; if Spike had tried to force him to do this, he would have fought until Spike killed him. With Leshar that wasn’t an option. “That’s why I’m shopping for trained slaves, my boy has spoiled me.” A foot tapped his head, and Xander sat up in the more familiar Down kneel.

“Here, boy,” Spike said, and Xander saw the vampire take his cock out of his pants. Xander immediately moved to between Spike’s legs, taking the cock in his mouth as he felt his own cock harden in anticipation. He knew exactly what Spike was doing, so he tried his best to impress not just Spike but the other demons as he nibbled down the side of the cock and then soothed skin with long licks.

“Want ta find a couple of females for him, breed them and bring up the cubs ta know servin’.” Spike groaned as Xander nuzzled under his cock, using a nose to push the heavy member up even as he turned his head to the side and started worshiping the balls underneath. “Lord knows their father could teach them a trick or two.” Spike gasped, and Xander laughed in his head at his own ability to distract. If Spike wasn’t such an experienced liar, he would have totally forgotten every lie he’d ever created by now.

“You don’t get to come, boy,” Spike ordered, and Xander muffled his own groan by sinking on Spike’s cock and groaning loudly to create the vibrations that caused Spike’s leg muscles to downright quiver.

“I’m surprised you didn’t buy from Leshar,” one of the demons commented.

“Told ya, want a little more involvement than he leaves his normal slave showin’.” Xander could tell Spike had gone into game face, and he moved in for the grand finale. Xander took Spike’s entire cock in his mouth and started swallowing. Sure enough Spike’s legs stiffened and then the vampire gave a short thrust forward as he started coming. Xander thought he heard appreciative noises from a couple of the demons sitting around them, but he couldn’t be sure. Xander had to pull back and breathe before Spike had totally finished, so he kept the head of the cock in his mouth and drank the semen as it came out, refusing to relinquish Spike’s cock even as it softened, instead following it back to its source as he rested the side of his face against Spike’s thigh with Spike’s entire now-soft cock in his mouth. He breathed deeply through his nose after having his air cut off by the deep throating, but the smell of Spike, that musky, yeasty smell that clung to the curled hairs pressing into his lips and nose, made him feel safe and protected. He gazed up into Spike’s face and saw the vampire looking down at him fondly even as a hand began to stroke his hair.

“Beautifully trained,” a demon commented.

“Actually, that’s how he acts when he shows me he’s broken Leshar’s training. Leshar would have the master give every single order, the slave sit unmoving until given a set of directions. I told my boy I wanted him to figure out ways to please me, and this is his favorite. Have to say I’m rather fond of it as well,” Spike said as he continued petting Xander’s hair, and Xander realized that he wasn’t moving soon. Not really a problem for him since he was exactly where he wanted to be, showing Spike how much he appreciated everything the vampire had given him even while helping Spike rescue Willow and Tara. Yep, couldn’t find a better place he thought with his entire mind as he breathed deeply to stave off a sneeze as one of Spike’s curls invaded his nose, and he sternly reminded his still hard cock that it couldn’t come.

“Besides, Leshar doesn’t have what I want. I want the cubs to have some magic, and since my boy’s talents don’t include magical abilities, I need two or three witches. Well trained, of course, and hopefully with a little life left in ‘em. Since I want breeders, nothing over 25 and pure human. I don’t like the taste of half-breeds.” Xander waited, praying that one of these demons would have someone to offer. Of course, Xander hated it when the demons offered the wrong girl and Spike walked away leaving some trembling human kneeling at the feet of a demon, but Xander didn’t really have a choice so he tried to remind himself he couldn’t save everyone. In a very real sense, he couldn’t even save himself, but he’d given up the goal of being saved and exchanged it for the safety of kneeling at Spike’s feet.

“Lirowaus might have a few that would fit your needs. He doesn’t sell at the auctions, but I might convince him to give you a private show.” Ulsha offered.

“Never heard of him,” Spike said seemingly without interest, but Xander knew he had to be excited. So many dead ends and now a new lead.

“He has strong ideas about training slaves; he certainly doesn’t hold with Leshar’s methods, but he might approve of you.” Ulsha explained, and Xander wondered how this demon differed from the hundreds of slavers at the auctions.

“What sort of strong ideas? I don’t fancy getting some slave with no will left or some mind that’s been magically wiped,” Spike sounded almost uninterested, but Xander knew better. Ty laughed.

“You won’t find that at Lirowaus’. His slaves have plenty of life left, but his training techniques ensure that they are very tractable. And he specializes in witches and half-breeds. He should have some stock he’s willing to sell for the kind of money you’ve been spending lately.” Xander would have done a Scoobie dance at the thought of a lead on a collector of witches, but that would have meant giving up his prize, and he didn’t think the Scoobie dance would go over really well with a room of demons.

“I’d appreciate it, mate. I’d like a nice strong line of slaves using my boy here.”

“I can see why with beauty and training like that,” Ulsha responded before pausing. “I hadn’t noticed before, but now that you’ve said something I do realize Leshar’s animals are rather bland on the nose, but your boy smells….content.” Xander felt the fingers in his hair curl around a lock and tug it playfully as Spike looked down again. Xander gazed up into blue eyes and Spike slowly smiled.

“Yeah, and when ya find a pet whose favorite place is hangin’ off your cock, ya know you have a keeper,” Spike said with another playful tug at a lock of hair, but Xander didn’t care if Spike was teasing him. After all, he could always get Spike back later. Oh heck, why wait that long when he had a perfectly good opportunity here? Xander wormed his tongue between Spike’s foreskin and the head of his cock, gently sucking and teasing as he looked up into eyes that went from blue to gold.

“Yes, rather, but I do have another appointment,” Ty commented in an amused voice.

“As do I, but I shall call Lirowaus to ask about merchandise,” Ulsha agreed. Xander could hear both demons stand, and so he was prepared when Spike stood, easily rising to his knees and sucking harder to keep from releasing his prize. The demons now openly laughed, and Spike gave his head a pop, bringing him to the side in a Down kneel as the vampire tucked himself back in.

“Git,” Spike growled with another pop to the head, and Xander did his best to look the part of an innocent slave while laughing inside. They were going to find the girls, Xander just knew it.

--Go on with the story--