Runaway

 

Author: NA14

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Pairing(s): Angel/Xander Xander/Spike Xander/other

Warnings: Non con, bondage, slash, bloodplay, spanking, WIP

Spoilers: None, this is an AU fic.

Summary: Xander is a sixteen-year-old runaway living in an old abandoned theater in L.A.

 

Nominated Category:

Most Angst: TV & Movies

&

Best Spanking Scene - Slash (for Chapter 7 - Spike's Pet)

---

 

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 - Lessons in Submission Chapter 4 - Fighting Crime Chapter 5 - On His Knees Chapter 6 - Naughty Broccoli Chapter 7 - Spike's Pet

 

Chapter 1

 

It wasn't like giving a blow job, but he told himself he could do this.

 

Xander ran his hands over his jeans, which he tried to keep clean. If they didn't look like he had to peel them off his skin, it meant access to a washer and dryer. That was a big deal. It meant he wasn't really lost.

 

He wasn't really afraid.

 

"You want some candy first, kid?"

 

Xander tossed away the peel from the banana he'd bought for his dinner. He'd been eating it when his customer had asked for more than a B.J.

 

The guy offered some pills, but Xander didn't take any. Instead, he made himself say it. He'd memorized it lying on the table, touching himself for the men who came to watch his 'performance.'

 

"T-two hundred, right?"

 

"Steep. But you haven't had anyone up the ass before."

 

Xander shook his head. He looked at the big man he'd offered himself to. He looked like the salt of the earth type. Like he was a truck driver or maybe in construction. He was in his forties. He was a bit on the overweight side. He'd been coming to see Xander's show for a week now. He had nice eyes. Brown, like Xander's.

 

He didn't look like he'd hurt someone.

 

"I...how do you want me?" Xander's voice broke.

 

"Peel the jeans down and lean against the alley wall. I'm not gonna lie to you, kid: you aren't going to like this, but I'll do my best to stretch you a little and I'll wear a condom."

 

"Okay...thanks." Xander looked at the dirty brick wall of the alley where he was going to give it up. To a guy whose name he didn't know.

 

But he had to do this.

 

He had no choice.

 

...

 

Angel had known for a while there was a nest in this part of town, but so far he hadn't found it. He stepped over the yellow tape and walked over to his friend, Gunn, a detective with the L.A.P.D.

 

Gunn nodded at him. "The Dark Avenger!" he joked.

 

"What have you got?"

 

"Well, body parts. Blood."

 

"Yeah, I could smell it blocks away," Angel said.

 

"Sure you could, you freak." Gunn shook his head in amusement.

 

"I don't think you can handle whatever did this."

 

"Whatever did this. This some kind of spaceman thing we're talkin'?"

 

"Some kind of...thing, yeah."

 

Gunn sighed in disgust. "Whenever you get involved, my friend, it means no one goes to jail, which pisses all over my party cake, you know what I'm saying? No justice."

 

Angel's dark eyes narrowed and Gunn had to force himself not to take a step back from the other man. Angel was a friend but...he was different.

 

"There'll be justice," Angel whispered.

 

...

 

Xander's hands dug into the brick wall as his customer pounded into him. It did hurt. A lot. He wanted to ask the guy to take it easy.

 

He wanted to ask him to stop. Please, just stop.

 

It hurt.

 

But he'd offered himself.

 

He'd decided to do this.

 

He breathed and tried not to cry and prayed it would be over. Soon.

 

...

 

Angel caught the faint whiff of blood. Young blood. Fresh blood. And sex. Knowing that would draw out the vampire stalking this area, he leaped from rooftop to rooftop, hunting.

 

...

 

"I'll finish in your mouth. Not that you don't have a nice, tight ass, kid, but I bet you're a sweet little cock sucker," Xander's customer told him.

 

Xander tried to stand upright and felt the tearing inside pull and burn. He squeezed his eyes shut.

 

He could give a blow job. All he had to do was get this guy off and he was done for the night.

 

He could go home and check on Dawnie...

 

He pulled his jeans up over his sore ass and got on his knees.

 

...

 

One thing he was good at, was blow jobs.

 

He focused on the job. He lost himself in that, trying not to think. He bobbed his head up and down, his eyes streaming, his ass burning, and his nose running, but he gave his all to his customer. He licked the slit and then when fingers held his head, let the guy fuck his mouth, trying not to gag.

 

The guy shot and Xander swallowed, almost a reflex now, but there was something...off about him.

 

He wiped his mouth and looked up to meet gold eyes. Saw the bared long white teeth.

 

"Oh, shit," Xander commented, falling back on his sore ass.

 

"Sorry, kid," Scary-face John said. "My shot was probably on the chilly side, so you gotta go."

 

"Get away from the boy!"

 

Xander saw that a tall, dark-haired man had entered the alley. He was wearing a charcoal sweater and black jeans with a long black coat that was vaguely Batman.

 

He was even acting like Batman, which was a huge bonus.

 

Xander's customer snarled and sprang for the stranger. Xander got on his feet, running to the end of the alley, but unable to stop from peering back and seeing the blur of the two figures fighting.

 

He knew he had to abandon his rescuer. It was survival. It was the smart thing to do.

 

...

 

Angel shoved the other vamp into some garbage cans, letting his rage loose, feeling good. Feeling Angelus rising inside him as he fought the other master vampire.

 

He yanked out the stake, ready to dust his opponent when suddenly Angel slipped.

 

On a banana peel.

 

...

 

Xander watched as his rescuer slipped on the peel that Xander had left on the alley floor.

 

He bit his lip, his scars and all his life experience to date screaming at him to run.

 

...

 

Angel watched as the stake flew from his fingers, turning end over end in the air, only to be snagged by the other vampire.

 

That was not good.

 

He evaded the first downward strike, on his bum, tangled in his coat, about to be dusted by an out of breath vampire with a pot belly, beer breath, and with his jeans still open so Angel could see his privates.

 

Suddenly the vampire was shoved away from him.

 

Angel had forgotten the boy. The young whore he was supposed to be rescuing.

 

"Leave Batman alone!" the boy yelled.

 

"You're going to regret that!" the vampire snarled.

 

"Yeah, I get that, but I just used my cell phone to call the cops and I can hear them coming so, um, shoo!"

 

Sirens echoed, coming closer.

 

The boy held the monster's eyes.

 

The monster turned and fled.

 

Angel climbed to his feet, wincing at his turned ankle. That banana peel had been a killer. Almost.

 

"I won't hurt you," Angel promised, not knowing what else to say. He sort of sucked at the reassuring part of the job, and usually preferred to fade to black as soon as possible.

 

"Well, no, not with that ankle. Do you need me to help you?"

 

The sirens came closer...then veered away.

 

"You didn't call the cops," Angel noted.

 

"No, um, that would be because of my big lack of a cell phone. But it worked. It made the bad guy go away."

 

"He'll be back. He'll be looking for you," Angel said flatly.

 

"And on that cheery note, I have to go. Can you make it on that ankle?"

 

Angel nodded. "You better pull your jeans up."

 

The boy saw his jeans were still sagging. Angel saw the heat on his face. The way his eyes closed as he took a deep breath.

 

"You're new at this...line of work, aren't you?" Angel prodded.

 

...

 

"No," Xander squeaked. "I've done it tons of times," he finished defiantly. He was having a real Xander Harris bad night. He'd given a B.J. and his virginity up to some kind of monsterific freakazoid and he was out the $200 he really needed for Dawn's medication.

 

Batman crossed his arms. "I don't think so. You're bleeding, boy."

 

Xander buckled the worn leather of his belt, blushing. His rear end was sending out pain messages. He felt sticky and ashamed and close to tears.

 

"Where do you live? I'll walk you home." The dark-haired man was closer now. He had one big hand leaning against the brick wall where Xander had rested his palms as he was fucked by the stranger.

 

"I can find my own way home, thanks," Xander said, swallowing nervously.

 

His rescuer had midnight eyes which were fixed on Xander's face.

 

"You're just a child."

 

Xander shook his head, feeling his own weariness. Remembering why he'd run. "I'm not." He hesitated, but found he had no pride left. He was hungry. Dawnie was hungry. "If you want...you know, me to do something for you, I'm available."

 

The other man's nostrils flared. His dark brows lowered in a heavy scowl. "I can smell you're bleeding!"

 

That wasn't a no, exactly. Xander dared to do one of the things he used to entice customers. He sidled up closer to the stranger and took his hand. Put the man's long index finger in his mouth. Sucked it, laving it with his tongue.

 

Dark eyes widened and suddenly he was shoved against the wall. He was scared because the stranger was so intense, but he needed money. He kept sucking the finger as if it were the stranger's cock and he loved the taste of it.

 

"What's your name?"

 

"No names, s-sugar," Xander stammered. "If you want, I'll suck you off. I'm good at it, I promise." He licked the finger he'd sucked, holding the stranger's gaze.

 

A hand tangled in his hair, holding him still as his rescuer bent down and nuzzled his neck, sniffing his skin.

 

Xander shivered at this strange attention.

 

"What's your name?" he surprised himself by asking.

 

The stranger pulled away. He sighed heavily. "Angel. And I shouldn't...I'm sorry. I just want to help you."

 

"Howabout $200, then?" Xander laughed bitterly. No B.J. No food tonight.

 

Angel had pulled away. He stared at Xander gravely before pulling out his wallet and handing him $300. Xander stared at the money.

 

"What do I have to do?"

 

"Don't offer your body to any more monsters: you have no idea how tempting you are."

 

"You're not a monster," Xander said, taking the money.

 

"I am a monster and I wanted what you were offering. Go home and stay away from these streets. Away from me," Angel growled.

 

---

 

Chapter 2

 

Dawn was lying curled up on the fancy bed Xander had made for her. He'd gathered ivory tattered lace and colorful costumes and cut them into patchwork, sewing them in a grid pattern in the costume room. Dawn had been delighted with her rainbow bed.

 

He could hear her breathing, harsh and stuttered from the cold that just wouldn't go away, no matter what he did. He rubbed her back. "Dawn? I got some medicine. And McDonalds." The bland food was about the only thing she could manage lately. Xander himself often skipped meals to ensure she had enough to eat.

 

She sat up, blinking and pushing back her hair. Her cheeks were flushed with fever.

 

"It's too cold down here for you," Xander said, feeling familiar frustration.

 

"No..." She broke off to cough. "It's fine, really."

 

"Fawn, I got to figure something out for us. Got to take better care of you." Xander rubbed his forehead, using his pet name for Dawn because she reminded him of one. All long, awkward limbs with brown hair and eyes.

 

"What did you do to get the money, Xan?" she asked him gravely as she watched him counting out the remainder of the sum Angel had gifted him.

 

He climbed to his feet, hiding his wince since his ass was still sore. "Just offered my services, sweetie. You know, doing janitor work and stuff."

 

Dawn pulled the stuffed animal he'd brought her home close. "I worry about you," she said, her dark eyes watchful.

 

I worry about me too, Xander thought.

 

...

 

Outside Dawnie's room, candle in hand, Xander walked the dim corridors that used to serve as actors’ dressing rooms in the abandoned theater. He headed for the prop room, which he'd made into his own.

 

Alone there, he stripped off his clothing, biting his lip as he saw dried blood on his left ass cheek.

 

Shame rose and tightened his throat. Xander Harris, teenage whore. He hadn't seen that in his future a few months ago.

 

...

 

Angel frowned, catching the soft melted chocolate scent of the boy he'd rescued mixed in with the salt of sweat and a hint of arousal.

 

He hardened instantly, which pissed him off.

 

But...how often had he woken from sleep aching and stiff, remembering pink lips parting and having his finger sucked.

 

Pretty tame stuff. Plus, the boy was young and tender. With warm skin. Soft eyes...

 

Fuck! He had important things to do. He was helping Gunn find the nest. He didn't have time to see how one runaway whore was doing.

 

He'd given him money. Fought that vamp john off him.

 

Okay, technically he maybe hadn't saved his life, but banana peel aside--intentions counted, right?

 

He put his hand against a brick wall, knowing that inside the seedy building somewhere he'd find the boy.

 

He made himself turn away.

 

...

 

"Hi, sugar. Feeling lonely?" Xander said the lines by rote now. It was like the ghost of some kind of cheesy porn actor from the 70s took over when he went to work on his little table. Who else said shit like this? And yet, the cheesier, the better. The clientele here loved cliches.

 

"I'm lonely and when I get lonely I touch myself..." He pulled on his cock, which was only semi-hard. Even for a sixteen-year-old, it was hard keeping it up all the time for bleary old men who wanted to watch him jerk off or touch himself. "But I'd love it if you told me what to do, sugar," Xander told the dark silhouette standing near the curtain. "Tell me how you like me to touch myself."

 

"...Are you all right?"

 

Xander started. The fake heavy-eyed look dropped and his eyes widened and narrowed. "You!"

 

"Yeah. Uh. Wanted to talk..."

 

"Talk?"

 

"Yeah, I thought I'd see if you needed any, you know--"

 

Xander cut right through what he sensed would be a lame attempt to offer help. "$50. If you want to talk."

 

"$50? But I want to help you!"

 

"$50." Xander licked his lips, torn between feeling shame that the guy who'd witnessed him taking it up the ass for the first time for money was here, and annoyance. He glared at his would-be savior.

 

"That's outrageous! Used to be able to buy a boy for a penny back in the day."

 

"What day is that?" Xander pushed. "Either pay up or take off, pal!"

 

"...Easy."

 

Xander looked away. He wasn't near tears. He wasn't! He didn't do emotions anymore. Especially here. Here he just read his lines and let his mind slipslide away.

 

He heard the snap of money on his table. He snatched it, counting, thinking about Dawn, then he shoved that deep down. He tried not to think of her here. "What do you want to talk about?"

 

"Well...you said you were lonely?" Angel asked awkwardly.

 

Xander smiled. He caught himself and tucked the smile away inside. "Um, those are lines I say. You know, I'm-so-lonely-I-touch-myself, blah-blah-blah."

 

"Oh. No. I mean...not that I'm not lonely. Well, I'm not! Lonely, I mean. I'm very...uh, I get by. I touch myself, sure, but not because I'm lonely."

 

"Wow, you're really a dweeb!" Xander said, rolling his eyes. He hid another smile.

 

Without thinking about it, he'd been stroking himself, keeping the fire stoked for his next client. He saw Angel's dark eyes fall to where he was handling himself. He was full and hard now. Trembling. The skin on his upper chest was flushed and his nipples were pointed.

 

Angel had a strange effect on him.

 

Being up on his little black metal table, naked, touching himself in front of Angel was having a strange effect on him.

 

He was aroused. For real.

 

"You're all...no hair," Angel said. Then his eyes widened as if he hadn't meant to say that.

 

"Yeah, I wax. My legs and my, uh. Customers like it. The 'boy' thing, you know?"

 

Angel was looking away, hands in the pockets of his big, Batman coat, posture stiff. "So...you haven't seen that guy since...?"

 

"No," Xander half closed his eyes as he circled his cock head with his thumb. He let himself fall back, spread his legs, knowing that Angel couldn't resist looking.

 

For some reason, teasing Angel was a thing. It beat saying cheesy lines.

 

"I'm glad. Is it...stuffy in here?"

 

Xander smiled, feeling a tiny bit reckless. "Watching me is making you hot."

 

"Is not!"

 

"Sure it is...for another $50, I'll bring myself off."

 

Angel stared into Xander's eyes. He couldn't hide his hunger even though it obviously embarrassed him. "I guess...you need to eat, right?"

 

"Absolutely." Dawn. He'd be able to get her into that underground clinic.

 

"Okay, but you don't have to..." Angel cleared his throat and looked vaguely hunted. "Do stuff."

 

"You're a paying customer so I'll satisfy you," Xander rasped. It was hot in here, though he had been chilly earlier. He was sweating now. "How do you want me, sugar?"

 

There was a long pause. Angel backed off toward the curtain.

 

"...Angel?"

 

"...Spread your legs wide. Touch yourself, but softly. Not enough to, um--"

 

Xander swallowed. His eyes were heavy-lidded. His heart was pounding in his ears. He was so aroused he thought he might come just from listening to Angel's voice, telling him how he wanted him. He began to rub the sensitive skin in the middle of his penis.

 

"Want me to talk?" he gasped, so close. So damn close. After a day of barely being able to keep it up.

 

"Um, okay." Angel had moved closer again. His shadow fell over Xander's open nudity.

 

"Dirty talk?"

 

"Tell me what you're thinking about. No...lines."

 

Xander's eyes flared wide as he held Angel's gaze. Angel had his palms flat on the edge of Xander's table now. He was almost on top of Xander. "Lying here all...open, I'm thinking about how that guy felt and, um, wondering if it would be lousy with you. Probably would." Xander turned his face away.

 

"Don't do that. Look at me," Angel ordered him softly. His earlier geeky uncertainty was gone, replaced by a quiet dominance. He expected Xander to obey him.

 

"Angel..." Xander's eyelids fluttered shut. "I'm so close."

 

"If I let myself fuck you, you'd want it. You'd claw my back," Angel whispered. His lips were close enough to kiss Xander's.

 

"Uhhhh!" Xander's hand was moving quickly now. He forgot the money, the way he was supposed to draw it out and do what the client asked. He needed to get off. Now.

 

"I didn't say you could come, boy." Soft. Deadly. Angel was using his Batman voice.

 

Fuck, it was sexy!

 

"Please..."

 

"Tell me your name. Your real name." The pupils in Angel's eyes were huge, like a hunting owl's. "Tell me!"

 

"X-Xander!"

 

"Xander, you can come," Angel said.

 

"Ohhhhh, shit!" Xander's hips rose and fell as he splattered himself.

 

"Very nice." Angel's voice again came from the shadows.

 

Xander sat up, his body shaking from his climax, huffing a little, feeling weak from the hot lash of passion. "I...haven't felt like this..." he couldn't finish.

 

"You should feel like that! You're beautiful...you know, when you really give yourself. Goodnight, Xander."

 

Xander collapsed against his table. "Will I see you again?" he couldn't keep himself from asking. He bit his lip, waiting.

 

"...I'll be around."

 

---

 

Chapter 3 - Lessons in Submission

 

"Pneunomia."

 

"Oh, God! Don’t people die from that?" Xander gripped Dawnie's hand tightly. He was so scared he was shaking as he listened to the doctor from the free Wolfram & Hart clinic diagnose Dawnie's illness.

 

"With the right drugs, she'll be fine, but she really belongs in a hospital...or safe at home. Can't you call her parents?"

 

Xander felt terror ripple at the mention of home. He shook his head. "Can't," he rasped. "Can't go back there. Ever."

 

The doctor sighed. He got up and walked around his desk. "I might...have a solution. Maybe Dawn should wait outside my office while we discuss it?"

 

Xander swallowed, remembering that this doc was how he'd got his job table stripping. In fact, the doc was one of his regular customers. He'd offered to take care of Xander, to set him up in an apartment, but Xander had been afraid of him, for some reason. Not ready to fully surrender to what he had to do to survive.

 

He glanced at Dawn. She was so tired that the trip through the sewers to this part of town had left her too weak to walk on her own. Xan had had to carry her through the darkness, worrying over the hot feel of her fever-flushed body.

 

"Need to talk to the doctor alone, okay, sweetie?" Xan said. He helped her to her feet and took her back to the waiting room. He smiled for her sake. "Be back in a flash!"

 

He watched his own hand on the doorknob, slowly turning it, and had a moment of clarity. Knowing what would be asked of him. Knowing he was in trouble.

 

The doctor was standing by his desk. "I think you know what I want."

 

"Yeah..." Xander fought tears as he undid his jeans. This was only his second time. He hadn't enjoyed the first. He hoped it wouldn't be as bad. "Uh..." He looked anywhere but at the other man, who was pale with a bald head and grey, colorless eyes.

 

"Bend over the desk, please," he was ordered coldly.

 

...

 

"Xander, are you okay?" Dawn demanded as he walked her through the tunnels with an arm around her.

 

He winced as his tender backside rasped against his jeans. "Fine, honey," he smiled. "Best of all, the nice doctor gave me your meds."

 

"Huh. He didn't seem that nice. Seemed sort of creepilicious," Dawn noted dryly.

 

"The important thing is, with these drugs you should be feeling better soon." He kissed her forehead.

 

The pair of them jumped when a dark figure suddenly walked into their path. Xander raised the flashlight and shone it into eyes that flashed first gold and then dark brown in a trick of the light.

 

"Angel!" He knew he should be feeling relief that it was someone he knew, but Angel was dangerous. He could feel it. Just not...skanky dangerous like the doctor.

 

"Boy, you just never learn, do you? It's not safe for you to be in tunnels like these. You could meet another monster."

 

"Monster?" Dawn echoed. She leaned against Xander.

 

"Who's this?" Angel studied Dawn. Xander pulled her close protectively so that the larger man cocked an eyebrow. "Don't worry, kid: not going to eat her."

 

"This is a friend. And we were just going, so you can go back to your lurking in the shadows deal."

 

"I'll walk you home."

 

Xander gritted his teeth. He didn't want Angel to know where he and Dawn lived. He didn't want a customer anywhere near Dawn. What if he said anything about how Xander earned his bread?

 

"We're fine, really."

 

Angel just crossed his arms, waiting for Xander to give in.

 

"Batman is so not my favorite character in comics, you know that? He's an arrogant asshole. I don't know how Dick puts up with him!" Xander bitched. He gave in and began walking Dawnie home since he couldn't stay in a dank, dripping tunnel with her forever.

 

"I'm sure Dick saw another side to Bruce than the one the comics offer," Angel commented.

 

"What, you read comics?"

 

"Uh. A guy at work does..."

 

"Uh huh. And ewww, you think that Batman and his ward are--"

 

"Guardian figures who can't resist the charms of their wards are in a million romance novels," Angel said.

 

"You read romances?"

 

"A guy at wor--"

 

Xander rolled his eyes and Angel smiled reluctantly. "I like Jane Austen. And...Nora Roberts. That doesn't make me less masculine, does it?"

 

Forgetting his wariness and discomfort for a moment, Xander laughed. Then, a second later, winced as Dawn leaned on him more heavily. She was tiring. Despite his soreness, he'd probably have to carry her soon.

 

"Let me." Angel put his hands on Dawn's shoulders.

 

"What? No!" Xander tried to pull her back.

 

"I won't hurt the little girl," Angel promised.

 

Dawn pulled away from both of them. "The little girl can walk for herself, thanks!" She broke into heavy, rough coughing but gave them both a stubborn look.

 

Angel nodded, dark eyes gleaming with sudden respect. "What's your name?"

 

"Dawn. And don't add an 'ie' at the end of it, okay? I'm not a baby, no matter how Xan treats me!"

 

Angel blinked. "I'll remember that. May I escort you home, Dawn?" He offered his arm to steady her.

 

Dawn glanced at Xander, who was watching with a worried frown. She put her arm through Angel's and offered the other to Xander.

 

The two men walked her home carefully through the dripping tunnels.

 

...

 

"He's...nice. You know, in a sort of dark avenger creepy way," Dawn said as Xander put her to bed.

 

"I put some orange juice by the bed. I'll wake you when it's time for your second dose," Xander said. He brushed back her hair. "Get well. Please?"

 

She sighed, her eyelids falling. "I think he likes you," she mumbled. "Maybe he's like Batman. Maybe you could get together with him and, you know..." She grinned. "Fight crime."

 

"Silly!" Xander pulled the blankets high and then left her one candle burning. He took the other, shielded in a hurricane lamp.

 

...

 

Angel was waiting in the hallway with his arms crossed. "This place isn't safe for you and the girl."

 

"Tough. It's our home now," Xander said.

 

Angel was studying him thoroughly, which made Xander remember their last encounter. He felt himself harden and blushed. Angel was a customer. Xander never felt anything for any of the men who came to watch him perform.

 

"You're hurting again. I...can help you."

 

Xander felt embarrassed fury rise. "No, you can't! Just leave me and Dawn the fuck alone! We don't need some creepy shadowy guy looking after us!"

 

Angel was silent, then his mouth firmed. "You were at the clinic run by Wolfram & Hart."

 

"Yeah, so?" Xander tried to forget those moments alone with the doc, but he had a weird feeling like Angel was inside his head: like he knew somehow what had happened. What Xander had given up.

 

"I've been watching that place for months. Runaways like you and Dawn go there and, for a price, they help you. But the price keeps climbing. Many of the kids end up enslaved."

 

Xander dropped his eyes. "Look, thanks for helping Dawn get home, but I don't want you here."

 

"She doesn't know...about how you offer yourself?" Angel's voice was rough.

 

Xander swallowed, remembering how he'd jerked himself off for Angel. "No."

 

"I won't tell her if you show me you're okay."

 

Xander's eyes flared. He held Angel's uncompromising gaze and finally nodded.

 

"My room’s down the hall," he said.

 

...

 

Once there, Angel used his candle to light several others, making the room much brighter than bashful Xander would have liked.

 

Angel then went and stood in front of the door and crossed his arms. "Strip," he ordered.

 

Xander turned his back and with shaky hands peeled off his tee shirt. It was sticky with perspiration...and blood where it met his lower back. He hunched over and took off his jeans. His boxers were stuck to the welts on his ass.

 

"Oh, Xander..." Angel's voice was sad.

 

"I'm okay! I agreed to it."

 

"Yes, I know. You're being groomed."

 

"Groomed for what?" Xander winced as he tried to tug his boxers free of where they were stuck to the dried blood.

 

"To be a slave." Angel's hands shoved Xander's away gently. He was kneeling behind Xander, looking up at him. His dark eyes were full of compassion.

 

Xander had to turn away, fighting hot tears. "I do things for food and stuff...it's just temporary."

 

"I can take some of the hurting away if you trust me."

 

Xander shivered as Angel's finger ran along the top of his boxers. He looked down and saw his nipples were hard. His cock was full and heavy, aching.

 

Ho boy.

 

"Um."

 

"Don't be embarrassed. I told you you're beautiful when you give yourself." Angel pressed his lips above the welts on Xander's lower back. "Let me help you, Xander..."

 

Xander turned his face away. "...Okay, but I'm not...I don't want--"

 

"I won't take you, don't worry. I just want to heal you."

 

"Heal me? Say what?" Xander felt Angel gently pull the elastic of his boxers free of his wounded skin and carefully began to lower them, revealing the upper curves of his bare ass to the larger man.

 

Angel's mouth burned against his skin again, open, nuzzling the sore wounds the doctor had made with the edge of a sharp ruler on Xander's bare, vulnerable ass.

 

"You're brave. I bet you didn't cry or call out while he whipped you."

 

Xander gave a broken laugh. "I thought he was gonna...you know? So when he didn't fuck me, I was relieved. This...was no worse than some beatings I've had."

 

"I'm sorry." Angel kissed him again, running his tongue over the upper welts, just above Xander's deep crack.

 

Xander hissed in reaction, his ass cheeks tightening and his cock beginning to leak excitement. He dropped his head so his shaggy hair hid his confusion at his reaction.

 

Angel's hands gripped his hips as he licked the wounds, his cool tongue somehow soothing and yet also arousing. Every stroke made Xander harder and fuller. He bit his lip to keep from moaning in need.

 

Angel tugged the boxers down to Xander's ankles. "Step free of them. I like you naked," Angel growled. Then he looked away. "I shouldn't do this..." he said under his breath. "I know I should stay away from you."

 

"It feels nice, even though I'm wondering just how hygienic it is." Xander couldn't keep himself from reassuring Angel, who he sensed was on the verge of running away again. "It feels like..." Xander couldn't say it, so he just shook his head.

 

"Like I'm taking away the experience?" Angel asked perceptively. "That's why I'm doing it: I don't want you to hate having sex."

 

"Yeah, but being spanked by a ruler wasn't really sex," Xander said wryly.

 

"It can be nice if you share it with someone who knows how to pleasure you."

 

"Uh huh." Xander's voice was heavy with disbelief.

 

"Widen your legs so I can get to all of the welts."

 

Abruptly Xander's humor disappeared. "Angel...I don't know how much of the licking thing I can take."

 

"Does it hurt?" Dark concern burned in Angel's eyes. Why had Xander ever thought him cold and scary? He felt...protected. Cherished.

 

"No. Not the way you mean--" Xander blushed. He couldn't believe how close he was to climax from having his ass licked. Angel hadn't even touched his penis!

 

"Oh." Angel looked at Xander's lusty, trembling erection. "I can take care of that too."

 

Xander opened his mouth to tell Angel no, thanks! "Yes...please."

 

Angel's open lips rubbed over a welt, making Xander shiver from the strange pain-pleasure. His head fell back. Every time Angel licked his bare ass, he felt electricity move through his body.

 

Angel's big palm reached out and cupped Xander's needy erection. "Fuck yourself against my hand."

 

"Angel..."

 

"Do it. I want to see you do it..." Angel's eyes had those unsettling gold sparks again, but his touch was gentle as his tongue licked and soothed Xander's hurts. Oddly, the ones on his lower back felt better now, not the burning sting they had been before Angel's attentions. Xander craned his head back and saw the blood was gone: the welts were a soft pink and not angry red anymore.

 

"How..."

 

"You want to move, don't you?" the dark voice commanded him. "Fuck my hand."

 

Xander couldn't resist any more. He didn't understand it, but Angel alone seemed to be able to rouse hidden passions he'd never experienced before. He felt shame burn his cheeks at his own submission, but he needed to obey. He began to move his hips, his penis rubbing softly against Angel's calloused big palm. It felt...

 

"Angel!"

 

"Yes, it feels good, doesn't it, boy? Giving in to what you are." Angel kissed his hip. "So beautiful. So tempting."

 

Angel continued to lick and suckle his wounds, but Xander was oblivious to his soreness now. All he was, all he felt, were his balls tight against his body, his nipples as his straying fingers played with them, and his cock, rubbing gently back and forth against Angel's steady hand.

 

Angel pulled his face away from Xander's backside. His hand suddenly hit Xander's abused right ass cheek in an explosive slap.

 

Xander cried out, riptide sensations feeling good as, in his highly aroused state, his body read it all as welcome stimulation.

 

"Want another?" Angel was looking up at him, not giving him a place to hide what he secretly craved. Cheeks fiery red, Xander nodded.

 

"You'll come in my hand when I slap your ass again, Xander," Angel told him with certainty threaded like iron in his voice.

 

"Oh, God..."

 

Angel's hand smacked his other ass cheek and Xander obediently came, his come spurting all over Angel's hand as though he was trained to do it.

 

Huffing, he watched as Angel put his hand to his mouth and licked away Xander's spend, but then his legs gave way and Angel was on his feet, hefting him in his arms. "Where's your bed?"

 

Weakly, Xander pointed, still out of breath. His ass was stinging, his body lax with bone deep satisfaction.

 

Angel pushed aside a curtain with his free hand and carried Xander to his secluded little bed, with its patchwork quilt made of old costumes from the theater. He placed Xander on his stomach, sitting on the bed and stroking his back, soothing him.

 

Xander rubbed away the tears his overwhelming experience had brought to his eyes. "What was that?"

 

"I...didn't want you to think what the doctor did to you was how something like that always plays out. It can feel good."

 

"Why do I feel this way about you?" Xander asked, hair rumpled, his big, velvet eyes fixed on Angel's face.

 

"You shouldn't." Angel cleared his throat. "I shouldn't have touched you...but the smell of your blood and the way you surrendered..."

 

Xander felt sleepy, sated. His ass was red, but the pain from the welts had almost faded.

 

Angel continued to caress his back.

 

"...You make me feel safe," Xander admitted groggily, sometime later. He was on the verge of sleep.

 

"I want to do the same things to you the good doctor did," Angel admitted softly. "I'm a monster, Xander. You shouldn't trust me."

 

Xander shook his head. "I've met a lot of really not so nice people since Dawn and I ran away...and before then. I don't think you're so bad..." His hand found Angel's and covered it.

 

He fell asleep then, so he never knew his mysterious guardian took his hand and held it, watching over him as he slept.

 

>

---

 

Chapter 4 - Fighting Crime

 

Xander's big, velvety eyes blinked awake. He frowned, wondering what was different about waking up this morning. Then he felt it. Arms around him. A big body spooning him above the blankets from behind.

 

He yelped, pulling away. "Wait! I didn't say we could do a sleepover!"

 

Angel smiled, looking entirely too peaceful with his hair rumpled and a fresh beard growing over his jaw. "I wanted to make sure you were all healed."

 

"Sure, use your evil powers of seduction via the power of band-aids!" Xander knew he was running at the mouth but...guh! Big, sexy, sleepy Batman. In his single bed!

 

"Xander?"

 

"What?"

 

"Shut up." Angel leaned up and kissed his cheek.

 

"What?! What's with the kissing on the cheek?" Xander scrambled out of bed, saw his morning wood sticking out and snagged a blanket to cover up.

 

Angel frowned. "Not sure, but..."

 

"What?!" Xander's voice was high.

 

"I think I might have a slight...crush on you."

 

"Oh."

 

"Yeah." Angel sat up. "I should go. I shouldn't be here. In your bed here, I mean. You're just a child and I'm an adult and it's..."

 

"I'm not."

 

"Xander."

 

"I'm not a little kid, Angel! You know I'm not. My body might be going: hey, sixteen, but...I don't feel like I'm sixteen inside. I've had to take care of people all my life. Besides, do you make a habit of macking on sixteen year olds?"

 

Angel's eyes widened. He shook his head, blushing. Xander thought the blush made him even more adorable. Uh oh. Why was he thinking Angel was adorable? That couldn't be good!

 

"No. I don't mack on..." Angel cleared his throat, feeling at a disadvantage while Xander smiled at him, "...anyone."

 

Xander nodded. "I bet I've seen more action this week than you have in a while; am I right?"

 

Angel glowered, not liking the reminder of Xander's job. "Well, I'm more the Spiderman action is my reward than the American Gigolo action."

 

"Do you look down on me because of what I do?" Now Xander's eyes were wide and vulnerable. Now he looked his age, and yet he was so brave, so ready to be hurt.

 

"No. You're trying to survive. To take care of someone."

 

"But...the things I've done. You don't know."

 

"Before or after you ran away?"

 

Xander chewed his lip, nervous about talking about his life before. His gut twisted with his secret. "...Both."

 

"Just...let me take care of you. Let me."

 

"For sex, you mean?" Xander's voice hardened. He couldn't believe how his heart picked up at the idea of being Angel's paid boy. It wasn't like with the doctor.

 

If Angel ordered him to bend over a desk, he'd do it, and he wouldn't be fighting tears...

 

"I... No, I just want to make sure you and Dawn are fed. Safe."

 

Xander tapped his lips. "Unacceptable, sorry."

 

"What? But...I'm going to save you! To rescue you. And...you'll be very grateful. Admiring, even."

 

Xander rolled his eyes, feeling goose pimples on his skin now he was out of bed, but Angel was currently sprawled all over it. He had to work out terms before he'd snuggle with him again.

 

Angel had a crush. Xander had to provide for Dawn.

 

"I don't want anyone responsible for me and Dawn but me."

 

"Xander..."

 

"No, Angel. If you want to take care of us, it has to be an arrangement of some kind. Business. Not...romance."

 

Angel flushed, dropping his gaze. "I can't pay you to..."

 

"Okay...we'll leave the sex on the table for now. But I have to earn my keep." Xander raised his hands. "I'm a man. A provider. It's what I do."

 

Angel studied him, his dark eyes startled, as if he were really seeing Xander. Not as a runaway, or a kid who was exploited. Not as a rescue case. But as a man.

 

"You could...help me with my cases. As long as you never put yourself at risk!" His mouth firmed.

 

"Cases...waitaminute!" Xander started to chuckle. "Don't tell me: you fight crime?"

 

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Angel asked.

 

...

 

"French toast. With fruit over it...you know, the real kind of fruit?" Dawn rasped. Her eyes were heavy-lidded with fever sleep, and her hair was sticking to her skin. Her fever had broken during the night, so now she sounded like a cranky little frog.

 

But she was hungry, and Xan would take that.

 

"Shadowy guy stayed the night?"

 

Angel leaned further into the doorway, so Dawn could see him.

 

Xander blushed, even knowing that Dawn didn't mean it like that.

 

"Yeah. French toast, huh? Sounds like diner craving to me."

 

Dawn cracked a grin. "Yep. I love you, Xan."

 

Xan ducked his head before grabbing Dawn's hand and kissing the back of it. His throat was too tight for words. Dawn. She'd been just a kid he'd met, but somehow she'd become a little sister. His family.

 

"I will always take care of you, sweetie," he vowed.

 

She patted his hand. "I know. Scoot, I'm starved!"

 

...

 

In the hallway, Xander put his hands in his pockets, feeling awkward. He'd tossed on some clothes to check on Dawn instead of crawling back into bed after he and Angel had talked.

 

He found himself wondering what might have happened if they'd been alone.

 

Angel had watched him getting dressed. Stared at him and made no secret of it.

 

So it was his fault that Xander’d had trouble zipping up his jeans.

 

...

 

"So...what case will we work on first?" Xander asked as they walked through the tunnels on the way to the diner to get breakfast.

 

Angel chewed his lip. "That guy who...uh."

 

"My customer." Xander hoped Angel didn't hear the humiliation in his voice. He was pretending to be all...blasé about it, but creepy face guy was Xander's first and only up the ass sexual experience.

 

"...Yeah. I'm doing something with my friend Gunn on that one, but I think it's too dangerous."

 

Xander looked at Angel. "I could be bait."

 

"You're too tempting." Angel looked away.

 

"Um, yeah...I'm bait, so isn't that the point?"

 

"I won't risk you."

 

"Why not?"

 

"Because."

 

"Because why?"

 

Angel clammed up.

 

Xander sighed, seeing he'd had some work to do on stubborn Angel.

 

"Hang on." Xander slowed down, used to his feet sloshing through damp puddles and the dripping sounds of the tunnels now. It was home. "You're all...shy this morning."

 

"I'm not used to waking up with someone."

 

"Me neither!"

 

"Okay, then."

 

"Okay."

 

...

 

At the diner, Angel hung back from the bright windows and watched Xander order. He'd told him he wasn't hungry, and luckily the tunnel they used came out into a shady alley this time of day.

 

So Xander had no idea what Angel truly was.

 

He played with the salt and pepper and drank coffee and watched as Xander came over with a bag to go for Dawn. "Don't you want to eat first?"

 

"Huh? No, I eat after I get the food to my girl."

 

Angel smiled. "Of course, you do."

 

...

 

"Who's Gunn?"

 

"He's a local cop. I help him out a little." Angel took out one of the cards Cordy had had made up. He still was a bit awkward with them. Proud, but embarrassed.

 

"We help the helpless." Xander cocked a brow. "So I'm just a project for you?"

 

"Started out that way, but..."

 

"Now you have a crush."

 

"Can we not...talk about that?" Angel rubbed the back of his neck.

 

Xander cocked a brow. "I'm going to use that crush to my advantage. For Dawn."

 

"You aren't very romantic."

 

"Romantic? Sorry, hard to get my romance on while I have to take care of someone. Guess it's like being a single parent. Plus, I don't think I'm gay."

 

Angel cocked a brow.

 

"Uh, well, I didn't think I was..."

 

Angel smiled slowly.

 

Xander suppressed an eep sound and resumed striding through the tunnels.

 

"So what case will we work?"

 

"I was thinking of asking for your help with some of the kids Wolfram and Hart enslaves."

 

"They actually...enslave them? Like real slaves?"

 

"Yeah, they actually do." Angel's voice was cold. "I mean to pay a visit to the good doctor."

 

Xander gave Angel a sharp look. Angel didn't look shy now.

 

He looked scary.

 

...

 

"I want to go with you." Xander had delivered the food to Dawn and stayed to eat with her while Angel watched from the shadows. "To see the doc, I mean."

 

"No."

 

"I deserve to be there. I can take it."

 

"Xander..."

 

"If he's done that to others, maybe kids not as strong as me, then I have to stand up for them, Angel. Besides, what were you going to do, rip his head off?"

 

"Uh. No." Angel's shoulders slumped. He'd been fantasizing about doing just that. "I want to find out where the kids are sent for training."

 

"Okay. Information. We can do that."

 

"You're a real white knight, you know that?" Angel noted testily.

 

"Says the guy who helps the helpless."

 

"Huh." Angel scratched his unshaven chin, his forehead wrinkling. "Guess I'm living in a glass house."

 

"Yep."

 

"I have to go do some stuff...but I'll be back tonight."

 

"What for?"

 

"To help protect Dawn." Angel kept his gaze wide and innocent, so Xander wouldn't fight him on this. He wanted to keep them both safe. But...he couldn't bear somehow for Xander to know what he was. If he tried to take them back to the Batcave, as Cordy called it, his true nature was sure to be revealed.

 

"Okay. And...you can bring me a gift. If you want a little sugar, I mean." Now Xander's voice dropped. It was his sexy-stripper voice.

 

Angel was already semi-hard, simmering from breathing in the boy's scent all morning. But that voice...

 

"What kind of sugar?"

 

"You can kiss me again. But it's a business arrangement. In return, bring me something. Food...and stuff."

 

"Kiss you...?" It was too much for a demon to resist. Angel crossed the hallway and propped Xander's chin up with shaking fingers. He wanted to take and own. He forced himself to gentleness.

 

Xander's face was flushed. His eyelids fell. He wasn't as tough as he pretended to be. "Yeah. Just a kiss. No big deal, right?"

 

"No big deal." Angel's pupils were as dark as his irises, giving him that freaky bird of prey look. He licked his lips.

 

Xander forced himself to try to act the pro. To take control of the product: himself.

 

Okay, Xan, just think of your body as hot taffy on a fresh apple. Just like you told yourself about table dancing, right? You aren't this body. This isn't really you. It's like...you're an actor and this is just playing--

 

Angel bent down and licked him behind the ear.

 

Xander moaned. His hands were digging into Angel's arms.

 

"I'm not sure I can do this. What if I lose control?" Angel sounded a bit panicked.

 

"It'll be okay, sugar." Xander fluttered his eyelashes.

 

Angel growled and backed off. He kept his face turned away.

 

"Have to go. Things to do," Angel said.

 

Like jerk off? ‘Cause put me down for that action next, Xander thought.

 

"Okay..." Xander pushed his hair back. "That'll be half what a full kiss would have cost you."

 

Angel's face was still turned away. All Xander could make out in the candlelight of the old theater was his rigid profile.

 

"Angel, you okay?"

 

Angel gave a pained noise. "Just...needed to think about the ballet for a few seconds. Dancers. Plié. Glissade. So I didn't lose control. You have no idea how good you smell."

 

"Huh? Ballet?" Xander was confused. All the other men he'd serviced had wanted to lose control. Why was Angel fighting so hard not to lose his?

 

"Yes," Angel cleared his throat. "This theater probably had some performances. I...like ballet. The language of the body." Now he turned and Xander saw burning hunger in his eyes. He caught his breath.

 

Despite the detour about ballet, Angel was definitely seeing Xander as hot taffy.

 

---

 

Chapter 5 - On His Knees

 

"She's just what our client asked for, Mr. McDonald. Small, young...maybe only 14? Long brown hair. I also read a strange energy signature coming from her, so she may be a witch or there might be some kind of dormant power there."

 

"Uh huh. So what's her name?"

 

"Dawn. The kids don't usually give their last names here," the clinic doc reminded Lindsey.

 

"And the boy you mentioned?"

 

"Xander. Yes. He's perfect. I think he has great potential to be a submissive with the right master. The girl should ensure his cooperation. Certainly, she was useful in allowing me to indulge myself."

 

"You have to be more careful, doctor." Lindsey McDonald's voice was cold. "I don't want any actions brought against our clinic if any of the kids wise up and seek help. You can only make use of them after they've been properly schooled on one of our slave worlds."

 

"I know that! It's just that the boy has the most beautiful brown eyes...and I'm interested in owning him, or at least renting him if they have him work the brothels. I'll send you the vids I took."

 

"Okay, fine," McDonald said in a bored voice. "If the girl is what we need, I'll send in a TAC team to acquire her for our special client and send her off for training."

 

"And the boy?"

 

"We'll get him in the follow up. If he's as attached to the girl as you say, we will be able to use her to apply pressure and make him cooperate."

 

The doctor reached down and stroked himself, thinking of Xander. He'd become obsessed with him since he'd first seen him. It was the sweetness Xander showed Dawn. It made the doctor want to use a riding crop on the boy's pert ass and leave red welts just to see bewildered pain in those soft eyes...

 

He sighed. "I would like him to retain some semblance of his personality. Most of the kids are too easily broken."

 

...

 

Xander got to work late, still tired from taking care of Dawn and what he'd experienced with Angel. It was hard, stripping down so he could go work his table. Harder now that Angel had touched him. He'd never known that his body could be manipulated in such a way. The marks on his ass had faded, but he remembered the sudden shock of Angel's palm smacking him, and he got hard remembering. It was nuts, and he couldn't figure out why he'd like that, but he didn't always understand his own body. He'd stopped feeling any real desire when he'd started working the tables and sucking clients off, so he hadn't thought he was gay...until Angel had touched him.

 

He would have liked to have jerked off after Angel licked his neck, which seemed pretty tame but had been a weird turn on, but he forced himself to save it for his job.

 

He sighed and reached for a cock ring. He hated them. They constricted him and he was uncomfortable after using them, but he needed it to stay hard with his clientele.

 

He put the 'available' sign on his door and climbed onto his table. As he did, he smelled cigarette smoke and tensed, knowing his boss was here.

 

Sure enough, Spike shoved the curtain aside and strolled in, swaggering, looking Xander over with burning blue eyes. He frowned. "You smell of...something."

 

"I smell? I do not smell, Spike." Xander swallowed. It was hard meeting those eyes. Spike was a scary guy. He'd seen him break the bones of people who angered him. So far he'd been mild with Xander, but Xander sometimes thought it might be because he was so skittish and Spike picked up on that. Of course, Xander also wasn't stupid enough to do anything to piss Spike off. He kept his mouth shut and did his job and Spike gave him his cut at the end of the day.

 

"Someone was askin' for you. Doc from that clinic. Wants a little spanking action later."

 

Xander grimaced. "No...I don't think so." He hated to turn down money, but he really didn't like the creepy doctor. Besides, his ass had just healed.

 

"You're gonna have to do more than just dance. Some of the customers are getting impatient for more than watchin'."

 

Xander crossed his arms, feeling oddly self-conscious under Spike's gaze. The other man was always so cool and detached, and yet he frequently dropped in to watch his newest employee play with himself for money. "I tried it...once. It didn't work out. Didn't even get paid."

 

"You do blow jobs, yeah?"

 

Xander nodded, swallowing.

 

"Get on your knees and do me, then."

 

"Uh--"

 

"I'll pay for it." Spike took a drag and gave Xander an impatient look. "I just want to see how good you are. Could give you a few tips. If you're a good little cocksucker, might not have to spread for more dosh."

 

"Oh!" Xander flushed. Spike was trying to help him in his scary Spike way. Still, the hairs on the back of Xander's neck were stiff as he made his way to Spike's chair and dropped to his knees. He watched as Spike opened his belt and jeans and his pale cock fell out. He stared at the deep purple head, hesitating.

 

"What are you waitin' for?"

 

"I don't want to do anything wrong and piss you off."

 

"Just open your mouth and suck it."

 

Xander bent close and licked Spike, deciding to start out slowly.

 

Spike's hand ran through his hair, encouraging him as he began to suckle. He didn't shove Xander's head down and force him to try to take it all like some johns did. Feeling a little safer, Xander pushed himself to take more. He gagged and had to pull back, choking, his eyes streaming.

 

"Well...that was something, wasn't it?" Spike's voice was gently mocking.

 

Xander kept his eyes down. Bad enough he'd been ordered to suck off his scary boss, but he couldn't even do it well.

 

"Stand up."

 

"Why?" Xander gave Spike a wary look.

 

"Not gonna hurt you, pretty. Tryin' to help, aren't I?"

 

"Yeah..." Xander promised himself if Spike did anything too wiggy he'd run. He climbed to his feet, his face burning with humiliation.

 

"The ring keep you hard?"

 

Xander nodded.

 

Spike reached out and grasped Xander's sensitive penis, tugging it gently. Xander gasped, his eyelashes fluttering like startled moths in the semi-darkness. "There now, a little petting helps, eh?"

 

Xander looked away but Spike continued to stroke him. His balls. His penis. One cool finger circled Xander's crown, which was oozing precum from the stimulation. He was panting and embarrassed by his own arousal.

 

"This is why you're special," Spike said. He took a deep drag and continued to play. "Back on your knees and put your head on the floor."

 

"Spike--"

 

"Won't hurt you, boy. Gonna teach you some things."

 

Xander held Spike's gaze. He was heavy and full, hurting now, but he sensed that Spike didn't mean to get him off. This was a lesson for an employee.

 

He thought of Dawn and how she was feeling better. Thought of Angel and hoped things would work out enough so he could cut back his hours working here. And then he did what he had to, because he had someone to take care of. He got onto his knees again and after a pause, put his cheek against the cold floor, waiting with his bum high.

 

"Very pretty." Spike caressed his ass cheeks and then Xander heard him fumble with something. Next he felt a slick coated finger press inside him with insulting casualness. Xander closed his eyes and tried to will himself to relax. To forget this was his body.

 

His muscles clamped, trying to keep Spike out, but the finger pressed firmly inside.

 

Xander gasped when it brushed against something.

 

"Yeah. Like that, don't you? Knew you were a sweet slut for it." The finger moved in and out, rubbing against the spot which made Xander twitch and press back. His cock was so hard now he was hurting from the constriction of the ring. "Not gonna get you off. Gonna teach you. Now back up on your knees for me again. We'll give the suck job another go." Spike swatted Xander's bum and the boy bit his lip from the smack. He liked it. That couldn't be good.

 

He crawled back to Spike, feeling awkward and shy. Spike was rubbing his ball sack, eyes heavy-lidded, slumped in his chair and watching Xander with the lazy anticipation of a predator who expects his prey to behave. Or else.

 

"That's it, boy, now you're feeling all hot yourself. Touch me with that heat. Gimme what you're feelin' now--"

 

Xander took Spike's penis in his mouth with more enthusiasm this time, the throbbing of his own needy body guiding him. He bobbed his head, not taking too much, but enough so Spike gasped and petted his head. "Fuck, yeah. Knew you'd be a good whore. Got the look as long as you don't scare the bird, eh? Like the taste of prick, don't you? You'll be spending a lot more time on your knees now."

 

For some reason, Spike's coarse words made Xander even hotter. If he had to be a whore, he might as well be a good one. And it was praise, which Xander hadn't had much of in his life. He knew that was fucked up, but he couldn't help feeling that way.

 

Spike rubbed his bum, which made him moan. "Want my finger up your arse again, slut?"

 

Xander couldn't speak since his mouth was full, but he knew he wouldn't have said yes, even though he did want it. He didn't trust Spike. He wasn't nice...like Angel.

 

The thought of the mysterious dark-haired stranger doing this to him made Xander moan again.

 

Spike slid a slicked up finger inside him and began to press in time with Xander's suckling. The gentle strokes finally got to him, so he began to move faster and faster on Spike, and the usual thoughts he had about milking a cow and getting a john off as fast as possible evaporated as his own desire bloomed.

 

Spike suddenly lifted Xander's head away by his hair. Xander's eyes rolled up and he stared into sizzling blue eyes as Spike came, his semen hitting Xander's lips and chin and dribbling down his neck. The finger didn't stop tormenting him. Xander shuddered. "Spike..."

 

"You can come with a cock ring on, boy. It'll be intense, but you can do it, if you want it bad enough. Now lick up the mess you made."

 

Obediently, Xander licked Spike's penis clean, panting harshly as Spike continued to play with him.

 

"Do you want to come?" Spike asked silkily.

 

"Yeah," Xander's voice was rough. He felt like Spike had forced him to unpeel more of himself to the whore persona and he hated him for that, even as he needed to get off.

 

Spike reached down and took Xander's penis, milking it firmly.

 

The sudden touch after all the teasing and deprivation sent electricity shooting through Xander's lower back and up through his balls. His body contracted and it hurt, but then he was coming, shooting over Spike's hand, sobbing as he almost blacked out from the intensity.

 

And then he did.

 

...

 

He woke up on his table. Spike was smoking and regarding him with calm possessiveness. He reached out and petted Xander's hair. "Keep all your earnings today."

 

"What just happened?"

 

"You got a little dizzy from the play. But you gave me a good suck job." He passed Xander some Kleenex so he could clean himself. "From now on, every day you'll be spending a little time on your knees for me, yeah?" It was a question, but Spike raised a brow coolly, looking imperious. Yet Xander saw the shadow of something in his eyes...almost a vulnerability, as if Spike thought Xander might say no, but of course, Xander had no choice and they both knew it.

 

Xander was a whore.

 

He fell back, looking away. Hating himself a little more because he'd enjoyed what Spike had done to him.

 

That's when he thought of Angel and realized that, even though Angel was a client, he alone didn't make Xander feel like a whore.

 

Angel was nice to him.

 

...

 

Angel was not nice to him.

 

He slammed Xander against the brick wall of the alley. "What are you doing here, boy?"

 

Xander gaped at him and then shoved him away. "Making a living!"

 

"You call this a living? Tell me you weren't whoring yourself out again!"

 

Xander glared. "It's what I do."

 

"I told you I'd take care of you," Angel gritted. He looked pissed, his nostrils flaring and his dark eyes compelling Xander to obey him.

 

Which only made Xander feel more defensive and angry.

 

It was weird, but with Spike, Xander had been a little scared.

 

With Angel, Xander felt like he wouldn't be hurt. He felt safe enough to talk back. To be himself.

 

"And I told you I take care of Dawn and me. I do!"

 

Angel pulled back. "But I want to help you! Don't you see you put yourself at risk working at that place? Or do you like doing that kind of thing?" Angel's tone was insulting.

 

So Xander slugged him. It felt good, hitting the bigger man in the kidneys and watching him recoil and gasp.

 

"I do it because I have to do it! I told you I was a provider. Dawn...is everything to me. And I can't trust you or anyone else to take care of her. She's mine, Angel. Mine."

 

Angel coughed and looked up at him. "That was a helluva punch."

 

For some reason, that made Xander smile. "Yeah?"

 

Angel nodded. He paused, sniffed Xander and hesitated. "You smell...something."

 

Xander rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I get that. I had a shower after the job so it must be my cologne."

 

Angel frowned, but he put his hands in his pockets. He looked oddly bashful, as if he was uncertain how far to push Xander. "Can I...walk you home?"

 

Xander's shoulders relaxed. It felt almost like a date-thing with Angel and not like work. Not like the unwilling desire he'd spilled with Spike.

 

"Yeah. Okay. I have to stop at Mickey D's for Dawn, though."

 

"I can do that." Angel smiled. He kept pace with Xander as they walked side by side, each sending the other little darting glances.

 

"So what did you do today?"

 

"The usual. Slept. Fed. Met Gunn and looked around for your attacker. No joy finding him yet." Angel shrugged.

 

"Can we stop by the comic shop after McDonalds? There's a new Nightwing crossover out. With Superman? And I like the writer."

 

"Nightwing and Superman?" Angel's eyes widened with interest. Then, "Um, who are they?"

 

"Haha, big fake liar-guy. I'm on to you! You so read comics!"

 

"Don't you think that's kind of an unusual pairing?" Angel asked, not denying it, though Xander noticed his ears were pink. His badass rescuer was blushing now his deep, dark secret was out.

 

"Naw. I can totally see what a guy like Superman would see in Nightwing."

 

Angel looked intrigued. "Is this a gay comic book?"

 

Xander cracked up at Angel's ill-concealed sudden interest and felt all the stuff in his life go away.

 

Turned out, letting Angel walk him home was nice. Maybe Angel wasn't the only one with a crush.

 

---

 

Chapter 6 - Naughty Broccoli

 

"A date?"

 

"Yeah, polite talk for a hired companion."

 

Xander paused, sitting on his table nude and wondering if Spike was going to order him to suck him off again. Hating that the idea excited him. "So, do I get to dress up?" He brightened, picturing a fancy club somewhere. Maybe a nice meal.

 

"Nope. More like dress down. You'll kneel naked at my feet."

 

"Oh."

 

"Got a meeting with some...businessmen. Helps the image if I keep a pet."

 

Xander couldn't meet Spike's gaze after yesterday. He studied his own bare feet on the table. "That's it? I just sit there?"

 

Spike strode over and lifted his chin, not letting Xander avoid his dominating glare. "No, that's not it. It'll take some wit! You are not to make eye contact with anyone there, including me. If you do, you agree to allow me to discipline you."

 

"What...?" Xander shifted on his table, uneasy. "That sounds--"

 

"It's for your own safety. Oh, and my image, of course, which I won't let you endanger either."

 

"Okay, so punishment. What are we talking about?" He chewed his lip.

 

Spike’s hand found a nipple and played with it. Xander gasped, raising his legs high to hide his erection. Why did he feel this way about his cold and dangerous boss? "You bend over if ordered. I swat your arse."

 

"Nothing more than that?"

 

"Just don't make it necessary. Also, you suck me, but you don't get me off until I give you permission."

 

"How will I do that?" Xander didn't think he was that great at doing blow jobs. Usually he just had to open his mouth and swallow. Spike alone seemed to require participation...and technique.

 

"...Carefully." Spike smiled. "Think you're up for it? I'll pay you $500 up front. If you please me, it could lead to other jobs."

 

Spike stroked his hair. Xander nodded, keeping himself from lifting his head into the touches. It felt so good to be touched gently. Not grabbed or forced, but...just touched with appreciation. He knew he was fucked up because of his past, but it didn't stop him from liking the way Spike touched him.

 

He looked up, holding Spike's heavy-lidded gaze. Spike smoked and seemed content to pet him, rubbing his back and stroking a finger down his arms.

 

Neither of them spoke.

 

The tempo of Xander's breathing increased and sweat beaded on his upper lip. He bit his lip to keep from asking if Spike wanted him again.

 

Spike suddenly pulled away, his eyes raw with vulnerability before indifference masked his gaze.

 

"Spread your legs," Spike ordered.

 

Blushing, Xander did as he was bid, since he didn't want to mess with Spike. His needy cock flexed in the open air between them.

 

"Very nice," Spike said, studying him. "I'll send in your customers now to watch you. No sense letting that go to waste, eh?" Spike said coolly.

 

Xander felt the prick of tears, but he fought them off. Why would Spike's manipulations make him feel that way after all he'd been through?

 

"Sure," he said, shrugging as if he didn't care. As if he weren't confused and hurting. "Fine."

 

...

 

"...Angel?" Xander's eyes widened as he discovered the big man huddled outside Dawn's door.

 

Angel looked up, and scrubbed his eyes. He ran a hand over his beard shadow. "Fell asleep."

 

"Why are you here?"

 

"Just making sure Dawn's safe. I brought her a sundae and she told me you were working late." Angel's voice dropped to a growl at the last.

 

Xander sighed. "Yeah." He rubbed his neck, stretching tiredly. "I was popular."

 

"Do you ever want any of your clients?" Angel demanded grumpily.

 

Bizarrely, Angel's grumpiness made Xander feel a little better. He was still raw from his encounter with Spike. "Not really," he soothed, not wanting to bring up Spike. He had a feeling that would push Angel too far.

 

Angel glared at the floor. "I don't like your job."

 

Xander crossed his arms. "Tough."

 

"I could make you quit. Make you do what I want, boy," Angel warned.

 

Xander nodded. "Yeah, I know you could...but I don't think you will."

 

Angel suddenly grabbed him, pulling him into his arms. "You're upset about something."

 

"Wow, that's perceptive. Usually you seem sort of clueless about people's feelings."

 

"Not used to thinking about...feelings. Why are you upset?" Xander rested his head against Angel's shoulder. Angel's arms were a possessive cage.

 

"What if I told you that suddenly..." Xander swallowed, not sure how to put this. "I'm liking some parts of my job."

 

"What parts?"

 

"Sometimes I like it when someone tells me what to do. I feel...sexy. But I know I should hate that!"

 

Angel studied him.

 

"What?" Now Xander was grumpy.

 

"Just wondering if I should tell you the truth...or, uh, lie."

 

Xander smiled. "Try to lie, maybe. I don't think you're a very good liar, Angel."

 

"Part of me is," Angel said silkily. "But I don't let that part out to play. Often."

 

"Okay, well, give it to me straight."

 

Despite his brave words, Xander's shoulders were stiff, so Angel rubbed them. "I think that you have a kink for being a submissive. You play act it with your customers, but when you meet someone who can...can tell you what to do, he recognizes it. He knows what you are."

 

"I don't like being...that."

 

"Why?" Angel was genuinely curious.

 

"It's weak. It's someone who wants to be told what to do."

 

"Do you always want that? In every part of your life?"

 

"...No."

 

"Then you like it because it's...kinky. It's no different from liking potatoes or broccoli."

 

Xander blinked. "It's pretty naughty broccoli."

 

Angel smiled and it was such a sexy, sure smile that Xander caught his breath. He bent close and whispered in Xander's ear, "You are my favorite kind of broccoli. Mmmmmm."

 

"Oh, geez! Seduce me with sexy vegetable talk!" Xander was warmed up. Humming. He felt like Angel had just given him flowers or chocolates or something. It was weird.

 

"Did you get off tonight?" Angel carefully bit his earlobe and Xander shivered.

 

"No."

 

"Good."

 

Xander rolled his eyes. "Angel..."

 

"I can get you off now," Angel tempted. Then, "Um...if you think that's a good idea?"

 

Xander grabbed Angel's hand and dragged him to his makeshift bedroom.

 

Then they separated and both stood there, staring at each other. Xander's heart was thumping in his ears. His mouth was dry. He had Angel. In his bedroom. The dark, sexy guy who got him hot when he wasn't annoying or brooding or just...annoying.

 

He had him here, but he had no idea what to do.

 

Angel put his hands in his pockets, rocked back on his heels and studied the room. "This is nice..."

 

"Thanks."

 

"You did a good job converting it. It's very, um, theatrical."

 

"Well, it is in a theater."

 

"Yeah."

 

"Um."

 

"So...are you nervous?"

 

"God, yes!" Xander wiped his palms on his jeans. "And, also, um--"

 

"Horny."

 

Xander raised an eyebrow.

 

"I can smell it."

 

"Smell it? You can tell by how someone smells if they're...you know?" Xander gave Angel a disbelieving look.

 

Angel looked flustered. "No, I can't, of course not! I'm normal. Boring."

 

"I don't think so." Xander had a little smile that went straight to Angel's balls, making them tighten.

 

"Don't look at me like that."

 

"Like what?"

 

Angel prowled closer, circling Xander, sniffing him discreetly. He smelled all warm and human and ready-to-be-fucked. An early spring flower, almost ready to be opened. Somehow, he found himself behind Xander, holding him. Xander shivered and pushed his pert bottom against Angel's heavy erection, rubbing against him.

 

"Do you want to play a game?" Angel asked.

 

"Does it involve getting off? Like, right now?"

 

Angel laughed. He nuzzled the boy's neck while his fingers found pointed nipples under his tee shirt. "Yes."

 

"Are we talking naked Monopoly?"

 

"There's naked Monopoly?"

 

...

 

Angel undid Xander's belt and jeans from behind, listening to him panting. He kissed the side of his neck. "I'm going to hell for this, but since I'm already damned--"

 

"Angel, you make me feel good. You ask first. I don't see how that's wrong." Xander pulled one muscular arm around himself.

 

"You're so young..."

 

"I want this. Touch me?"

 

Angel walked Xander over to a dresser which spilled out masks and other paraphernalia of the theater. He pushed Xander forward so he was leaning against it. "Hold very still. Keep your hands flat. If you move at all, I'll stop," he instructed softly.

 

He pulled Xander's jeans down so his cock was exposed to the cool air and then undid his own. He palmed himself and then rubbed his prick softly over the globes of Xander's ass.

 

Xander moaned, twitching. His head fell back, his eyes closed. Warm and trusting and wanton. Everything Angel knew he should resist but couldn't.

 

He placed his penis in Xander's crack and began to fuck it, rubbing himself back and forth and trying desperately not to go feral.

 

"Touch me?" Xander again pleaded.

 

Angel rewarded Xander by taking his dripping cock and lightly fisting it, thumbing the top irregularly.

 

Xander's face was deeply flushed. His sensuality bloomed under Angel's touch, making Angel feel powerful and protective at the same time.

 

"I shouldn't do this. I meant only to protect you."

 

"Yeah, that never works out. Remember The Bodyguard?"

 

"Don't kill the moment." Angel sped up his hand on Xander as his own hips began to hammer, sliding himself in the pillowy embrace of Xander's ass cheeks. His penis stuttered over the hidden rosebud of Xander's opening, and it was all Angel could do not to bend Xander over and just shove inside, uncaring about lube or preparation, just wanting in. To conquer. To claim.

 

His beast was telling him that if he forced Xander to his knees, he'd could own the boy. He wouldn't have to worry about his job or his independence. He'd have this lovely body whenever he wished.

 

Xander was fucking himself frantically in Angel's fist, his hands digging into the dresser. The movements sped up the intense pleasure of his cock rubbing against the boy, and Angel felt his face change. Felt his vision sharpen. His mouth watered for the taste of Xander...

 

Xander started to turn his head to speak to Angel which forced Angel to hide his secret face against the boy's neck. The blood under his skin beat against Angel's mouth, taunting him.

 

He tightened his hand to strangle Xander's desire, holding back the boy's climax when he felt it coming on. "With me," he growled.

 

Xander tried to shove his hips to free himself but Angel held him, ignoring the boy's frustration. "You're bossy...! I need--"

 

"I'll take care of you. Stay still!"

 

Angel rubbed himself at a slower pace, not wanting to stop. Wanting to rub against his boy forever.

 

"It hurts, Angel!"

 

"It will be incredible when I let you come. Trust me." Angel nuzzled Xander. "Stay still. Just let me play with you."

 

Angel let go of his killer grip on the base of the eager boy's prick and lightly ran his fingers over his heavy balls, exploring him as Xander gasped, trembling like a horse that has been pushed too far. He was on the very edge of climax, so any touch could bring him off, but Angel deliberately slowed himself down, teasing Xander, wanting to make him beg for it.

 

"Do I have to beg?"

 

"Uh…" Angel was suddenly embarrassed by his own beast. It was exactly what he wanted to hear. "If you like."

 

Xander choked out a laugh. "Please, Angel. Please, let me come. Now. Right now!"

 

Angel swirled a taunting finger around Xander's cock head, giving barely any stimulation to his heated prick, but it was enough. Xander cried out, his come shooting from his body to splatter the furniture, his neck arched and his lips parted in ecstasy.

 

Angel's vision reddened and he lost himself as he let go, pulsing his own come over the boy's skin so he soaked him. Marked him.

 

He came back to himself on his knees with his vision back to normal. Xander was still crushed back to front with him.

 

Angel wanted to stretch and purr from the luxurious enjoyment of their sexual encounter. Xander hadn't even brought up dollars, which was a first...

 

"Ow. Ow!" Xander had one hand clamped over the side of his neck. "What the hell?"

 

And Angel belatedly saw a red droplet running down the boy's softly muscled back.

 

Oops.

 

"Did you...bite me?" Xander demanded, twisting his head around to confront Angel. His lips were still flushed from his orgasm, his long bangs adorably mussed and in his eyes, but he looked cranky.

 

He raised his brows, waiting for Angel to answer him.

 

---

 

Chapter 7 - Spike's Pet

 

Angel snatched the boy close and began to lick his wound.

 

"Ow! What are you–?"

 

"I, uh, have magical healing powers."

 

He held Xander's head steady so he couldn't peek. The wounds from his fangs were closing. He'd really bungled it! He'd completely lost control of his demon while fucking the boy's crack. The bite was deep: a hungry, feeding bite with no finesse.

 

A mating bite.

 

"Magical healing powers?"

 

"Shhhh." Angel blew on the wounds, which were shrinking. He didn't want to let Xander see it till it was...normal looking.

 

"You're nervous, and you being nervous is making me nervous, especially since I'm bleeding!"

 

"...I'm not nervous. And you aren't bleeding." Not anymore.

 

"Then why are your hands shaking?"

 

"Uh, is it less...sore?"

 

Xander rubbed the side of his neck. He gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I guess you're a biter when you're excited, huh?"

 

"...Yeah."

 

"It felt like you'd seriously taken a chunk out of me, but now it feels like it's not too bad."

 

"No, um, it's like your ass, with the welts. It's already...healing."

 

"How do you do that?" Xander turned around, arms folded. His pants were still around his ankles and his tee shirt was hiked up over a reddened nipple, where Angel had toyed while they'd played.

 

"The power of suggestion?" Angel said.

 

...

 

Xander yawned. "I'm sleepy."

 

Blood loss. Shit. Angel couldn't even remember how much he'd taken. He hadn't lost control like this since he was a greedy fledge. He couldn't believe this. Xander was just a boy. A beautiful, sweet smelling...

 

He felt his fangs lengthen and yanked himself back from the edge.

 

This was getting embarrassing.

 

"I'm going to go out and get you something to eat." Angel swung Xander into his arms and strode over to the bed. He pushed off Xander’s jeans and pulled off his tee shirt.

 

Then he just looked at him. Looked at the boy he might have seriously hurt by his loss of control.

 

He ached to touch him again.

 

But he couldn't let himself do that. He couldn't put Xander at risk. He didn't want Xander to know his secret, either. If he knew what Angel was, he wouldn't want to have anything to do with a vampire.

 

"Hey, you look all...unhappy face," Xander rasped.

 

"Just wish I could climb in and hold you."

 

"Sounds like a plan as long as it involves sleeping. I'm not, uh, up for anything else."

 

"...But it was good for you, right? Right up until, the uh–"

 

"Bitiness? Yeah, it was good."

 

Xander's eyes fluttered closed and he fell asleep.

 

Angel watched him, already feeling the loss of cutting Xander out of his life for Xander's own good.

 

He bent down and kissed the boy's forehead. "I'll be back. I'll take care of you."

 

He pushed aside the curtain and then looked back over his shoulder.

 

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

 

...

 

"Raw steak? You've got to be kidding. I don't want hair on my chest. I have enough waxing to do as it is," Xander quipped.

 

Angel blushed as he remembered where Xander was smooth. He'd never thought about it before, but he was developing a kink for waxed Xander...or just Xander.

 

"You need it for...vitamins."

 

"Angel, this is disgusting! I appreciate you went out and got me this unappetising, uncooked meat–"

 

"It's cooked. Barely."

 

"–But I think I'd rather have Cocoa Pops for breakfast."

 

"Xander." Angel sighed, frustrated. "You might be a bit weak and dizzy after our...thing. You want to take care of Dawn, though, right?"

 

Xander straightened in his bed, his dark eyes getting some of the old snap back. He'd been really out of it when Angel had returned. Angel had stuck an IV in the kid's arm and let him sleep a while before he'd removed it and then roused him to eat the meat he'd scrounged.

 

"Of course I'll take care of her. Why? Is there something wrong?"

 

"No, but you can't do that unless you take care of yourself first, now can you, Mom?"

 

Xander sighed. "It looks like steak sushi. Am I gonna be hugging a toilet bowl after eating this?"

 

Angel blinked. "Well, I cooked it."

 

"Oh."

 

"I'm not a bad cook."

 

"I'm sure in some parts of the world this is...really yummy."

 

"Xander!"

 

He sighed. "Okay, but the thing's all bloody."

 

Angel cut a piece and put a fork to Xander's pink lips. Xander held his gaze and he remembered what they'd done together. He swallowed.

 

Angel swallowed. His pupils almost swallowed his chocolate irises as he stared into Xander's eyes.

 

"Do I get a kiss for eating it like a good boy?"

 

Angel closed his eyes. "Xander, please don't tempt me!"

 

Xander pouted, even though he knew he was teasing a tiger. "I never felt that way...the things you did to me."

 

Angel pushed the fork forcefully against Xander's mouth, stopping the teasing for the moment. Grimacing, Xander ate the bloody steak.

 

And Angel knew he'd go to Hell because as he stared at the bloody juice on Xander's lips, he was close to pushing the boy on his belly and kissing his soft, pearly, waxed balls. Licking him until he found that rosebud opening and sucking that till it gave easily under his fingers.

 

Fucking Xander deep into the mattress.

 

...

 

"She's perfect for the client," Lindsey told the doctor over the phone. "They like her age, too. Figure she'll be easier to train. Can you arrange to see her again for another visit or should we send a TAC team to trace her?"

 

"She'll need a check up after her illness. But we can't have her snatched from here. These damn street kids see everything and I don't want to scare them off."

 

"Fair enough. I'll send a tracker to you. Find a way to attach it to her clothing or something and then we'll send a team in to acquire her."

 

"What about the boy?"

 

"What about him? He's not as attractive since he's older, but he could be broken for use in a demon brothel."

 

The doctor almost growled at the thought. He wanted to be the boy's master. "I want him. But I want him properly broken first. Just...enough left of him so that I can see he hates himself every time I make him do something."

 

...

 

Xander flung the blanket aside. Late! For a very important date!

 

He felt fine. Glowing, even. He touched the mark on his neck from Angel's bite and couldn't even find the puncture marks anymore. The skin felt smooth and silky. Huh. He wondered how that was possible. Was it the TLC Angel had insisted on?

 

He tossed on some clothes and opened the door to hear voices. Angel was in Dawn's room. It sounded like he was reading her a book.

 

Quietly, Xander tiptoed out. He just had to keep this date with Spike and then he could be back here as soon as it was over.

 

Probably Angel wouldn't even know he'd gone anywhere.

 

...

 

"You're late," Spike growled when Xander entered the dressing room for table dancers. Xander was puffing, having run through the tunnels to get there.

 

"Y-yeah. Sorry, I fell asleep. Sort of a long night."

 

Spike sniffed him. "You smell like you've just gotten out of bed with someone who fucked you. Not a regular was it? Because it smells familiar..."

 

Xander's head came up and he shrugged, defiant. "What if I did sleep with someone?"

 

"I don't like it. Get in the shower and get his scent off you. My friends should only smell me on you."

 

Xander thought about arguing since Spike's foul mood was beginning to piss him off, but Spike was glaring at him with gold sparks in his eyes. He'd seen just that look before the smaller man snapped someone's wrist one time.

 

And Xander couldn't take care of Dawn if he was all broken arm.

 

Stripped, he stepped in the shower. He turned his back when he saw Spike standing there, making no secret of studying his nudity. No matter how often he took his clothes off for other men, he just couldn't get used to it.

 

When he climbed out, Spike dried him with a towel himself. He rubbed the smooth skin of his chest, tweaking his nipples till they were reddened before rubbing the towel carefully over his prick and balls.

 

Xander hardened instantly, blushing.

 

"Beautiful slut, aren't you?" Spike said. He might as well be talking about the weather for all the emotion in his voice. "I have some things I want you to wear."

 

"I thought you said I'd be...naked?"

 

"Near enough." Spike took a deep drag of a freshly lit cigarette and pulled something leather out of a bag on the bench of the changing room. "Spread your legs and stand still," he ordered.

 

Xander tensed, but thought of the money and did as he was ordered. Inside, he felt that growing despair at how more and more he was willing to give himself away for whatever he could scrounge.

 

"Pretty pecker." Spike stroked his hard on.

 

Xander bit his lip, hating how Spike's casual way of handling him like he was an attractive object turned him on.

 

He strapped something over Xander's hardness. It constricted him at the base, and then two leather ties knotted around Xander's balls, separating them painfully from each other and his cock. The ties then went up through his crack and tied into a belt. It left the plum head of Xander's erection sticking out helplessly.

 

Spike fondled it, smiling as he watched Xander's reaction. "Can't come easily in that. Not till Master says."

 

"Master?" Xander grumbled.

 

"You call me that or Sir tonight." Now Spike's face was totally serious. "You show me any disrespect and I'll beat your arse raw. Don't think I won't."

 

He pulled out a metal choke chain and leash, the kind that could be used on a dog. Xander balked. "No way."

 

Spike raised his brow and nudged the bag so Xander saw the greenbacks sticking out. He waited.

 

"Fuck! Okay." Xander bent his head and Spike leashed him. "What if I lose my balance with you leading me with this thing?"

 

"Oh, you won't be walking, pet, so no worries. Pets crawl. I need a couple more things before you're ready."

 

Spike expertly applied kohl to Xander's eyes and then took out a palate of lip rouge colors. He dabbled with the colors before choosing one for Xander.

 

"Color of the last apple before the frost hits," Spike said, applying it. "Now to polish your skin and add me to your scent."

 

"Thought you said you were done."

 

"Hmmm. Mascara, too, I think."

 

Xander twitched when Spike stabbed his eye with the wand. "Ouch!"

 

"If you didn't fuckin' squirm, this would be easier, now wouldn't it?"

 

"It burns."

 

"'Course it does. Beauty is pain."

 

After Xander's face was dolled up to meet Spike's critical examination, Spike opened his belt and pulled out his cock. It was hard.

 

Xander stared at it with wide eyes.

 

"Well, come on, boy, not got all night. Suck it!"

 

"You said I wasn't supposed to get you off–"

 

"That's later. Now you suck me till I'm ready to come, yeah?"

 

"How will I know?" Xander wet his lips, nervous. And, okay, aroused, not that that was comfortable. His cock felt like it was wearing a corset.

 

"Open your mouth and I'll fuck it. Let's get on with it!"

 

"You could be nicer, you know?"

 

"Why? You're a whore, aren't you?" Spike said. "In another few months you'll be selling your arsehole to anyone with a hard on. I've seen it before."

 

Xander looked away. "No. I tried it once and...I won't go that far again if I can help it. I won't be...that."

 

Spike's eyes softened for a moment. He cupped Xander's face. "Seen too many pretties come and go from here. I try to keep them safe. Even kept a few. They always end up selling themselves. Whores have no loyalty."

 

"Is that why you're so cold to me? Because you think I'll betray you?"

 

Spike's face hardened. "You're a whore. Can't help yourself."

 

"I'm not like that."

 

Spike stroked himself and cocked a brow.

 

Xander held his gaze a moment longer, looking for the brief softness...the brief moment of pain, but it was gone. Spike was his badass boss again.

 

"Open up. Want to fuck your mouth."

 

Obediently, Xander opened his lips and Spike gently pushed inside. He didn't hurt Xander or make him choke. He buried his fingers in Xander's hair and then began to thrust, closing his eyes and closing Xander out. Just...using him.

 

Xander closed his own eyes but he couldn't block out the sensual sounds Spike made. He gave a little grunt at the end of each thrust, nudging deep in Xander's mouth, but not making him gag. Xander began to lick and suckle Spike's cock and Spike's hands tightened on his head. "Can't get enough prick, can you, boy? You're the kind who needs cock up his arse or his mouth. Needs to be fucked. Needs to be owned–"

 

Spike gasped and pulled out of Xander's mouth. Xander blinked up at him, not sure what he would do next, but the splatter of come on his chin and chest answered his confusion. Spike had wanted to shoot on Xander's skin.

 

"Lick it clean."

 

Xander's tongue ran over Spike's penis, catching the remainder of his spend. When he'd cleaned Spike off, Spike tucked himself away.

 

"Right. Baby oil."

 

"Huh?"

 

"Stand up."

 

Xander was getting tired of being ordered around, but if he bugged out now, Spike would probably not pay him anything. And the evening couldn't get any worse, could it?

 

Some date.

 

...

 

Spike rubbed a combination of his come and baby oil all over Xander's body, making him twist and turn as he covered even the soles of his bare feet. He had to bend over and grab his ankles so Spike could dip oily fingers into his hole, circling his rim over and over with a thick finger.

 

Xander was achingly hard from the treatment.

 

He really hated Spike for that.

 

...

 

And then he was finished.

 

Spike lifted the chain leash and led him from the changing room and out into the alley way, where a long black limousine was waiting. The driver paid no attention to Xander, but nodded respectfully at Spike, who pulled the boy in after him.

 

"At my feet," Spike insisted, pushing Xander so he sat on his ass on the car floor.

 

"If we get in a car accident, I'm not wearing a seat belt. You could be fined!" Xander prodded. Talking back to Spike was about the only freedom he had right now, and he was going to enjoy it. It made it easier to kneel at his feet naked except for his hated cock bra and the dog chain around his neck.

 

"We'll be pickin' someone up on the way. Keep your eyes down. If you need something tonight, touch my hip with your fingers. When I fish my cock out, suck it. If anyone fondles you, let them. Some might spank you or even put their fingers up you. Got any issues with that?"

 

"Yeah..."

 

"I'll double the money."

 

Xander wet his lips. He hated that he'd say yes and that Spike knew he could buy him.

 

It made what Spike said to him earlier seem like it was true.

 

...

 

A guy climbed into the car a few minutes later from the kerb. Xander observed him from under lowered lashes, his face flaming red with embarrassment. As soon as the other man got in the car, Spike used his boot to rub Xander's hard penis absently.

 

Xander gasped at the feel of it, but didn't make the mistake of trying to move away or protest. A warning glare from Spike told him he'd been serious about giving him a public hiding if he in any way didn't play slave to his master.

 

"Nice pet, Spike!"

 

"Yeah, thanks, Clem. He's a hot little tart."

 

"Are you sharing?"

 

"Touching is all right, but his arse and mouth are reserved for my prick."

 

The other man nodded. Xander frowned, wondering why the stranger had such a strange face. His skin was looped around his skull like loose rope and his ears were a funny shape.

 

Spike nudged him with the boot between his legs and Xander caught his breath again.

 

"If you want relief, pet, hump my boot," Spike told Xander. He shook out more of his cigarettes and lit one, staring down at Xander's lowered face coolly. He prodded again and Xander couldn't help but push himself once against the soft, cool leather. It felt incredible against his bound and swollen cock.

 

"Training harness?" Clem commented, staring at the get-up over Xander's penis.

 

"Yeah, he needs work, but he's hot for prick." Spike rubbed Xander rhythmically, almost like he was soothing his pet. Tending to him.

 

Xander glared hatred at Spike and swore he wouldn't give in and rub himself against Spike's black leather boot.

 

...

 

When they pulled up at their destination, Xander was humping Spike's boot. Spike was nudging him back with it, stimulating him carefully. It didn’t offer Xander the relief of climax, but it eased his screaming arousal.

 

He had a moment to compare it to what he'd felt with Angel. Angel had restrained him too, but he hadn't been cold and indifferent when he did. He'd been as lost to passion as Xander.

 

He'd even bitten Xander in the moment.

 

Then he was pulled from his reverie as Spike led him from the car by his leash to the street. He felt tears prick as he remembered he was supposed to crawl.

 

Even here.

 

Xander thought of Dawn and remembered where they'd come from and what he'd done. His secret.

 

And then he crawled out of the limo and after Spike, naked, leashed, oiled, desperately horny.

 

Spike's pet.

 

...

 

Spike swaggered inside a gracious looking boardroom with Xander crawling fast behind him. He nodded pleasantly to the other people waiting, who Xander only really saw in glimpses through his lashes. As Spike walked past, he stopped to chat, smoking, relaxed, smiling.

 

Hands found Xander. A finger was pushed in his mouth. Not knowing what else to do, he sucked it. The back of his balls was explored and then when Spike had a long conversation with a woman, the man sitting next to her put two fingers up Xander's ass.

 

Xander arched and gasped.

 

Spike had him so stimulated that it felt good. Good to be finger fucked by a total stranger.

 

He felt searing shame but it did nothing to combat his arousal.

 

"Pretty, isn't he?" Spike said.

 

"May I?"

 

"Pet, up on the table. Spread your legs for the nice man."

 

Face flaming, but finding this not unlike his job as a table dancer, where sometimes he was fondled for extra money by his customers, Xander climbed on the table. He didn't know where to look since Spike had warned him sternly not to make eye contact, so he closed his eyes.

 

He felt his balls weighed and squeezed with appreciation. His lips parted.

 

"He's very responsive."

 

"Only the best."

 

"May I use him?"

 

"Not yet. He's new. Want to break him in myself," Spike said. He gave the leash a sharp tug and Xander took that as a signal to climb off the table. His hair was ruffled as he crawled after Spike.

 

Spike headed to a seat at the head of the table.

 

He sat down and everyone who had been milling around the room came and found a seat and watched him attentively.

 

"Right. Time for the Master of L.A. to do business," Spike said, leaning back at ease. His boot prodded Xander's aching cock where he lay curled up at his feet.

 

...

 

Half way through the meeting, Spike unzipped himself.

 

"Clem, make a note that a wergeld is to be paid by the Lkoroturus clan for taking out a warrior from the Cranas clan. They owe bloodprice since they broke the peace," Spike said.

 

Xander had been half listening but a lot of what the people were discussing sounded seriously bizarre. Still, he gathered that Spike ran some kind of racket. He wasn't just the boss of the strip club where he employed Xander. In fact, from what he overheard, it sounded out of character for him to spend so much time there lately. So why was he?

 

On hands and knees under the table, Xander opened his mouth and took Spike. He was careful, since Spike had promised he'd discipline him if he got him off. So how did you suck someone off but...not get him off? Xander tried it with gentleness. Not taking too much. Licking the rim, the slit. Tasting Spike.

 

He must have been doing it right because Spike encouraged him closer and his soft boot rubbed against Xander's cock again. Xander gasped around Spike's penis.

 

"Hump it, pet," Spike said, gazing down at him calmly. "Hump my boot like a good boy."

 

Cheeks flaming, Xander rubbed himself against Spike's boot. He was glad that he wasn't allowed eye contact. He couldn't bear to meet Spike's eyes right now as he humiliated Xander...and made him love it.

 

...

 

Somehow Xander kept up his tender fellatio. He closed down his mind and tried to think of himself as just his body. He couldn't help that his body was a slut. He was young and healthy and Spike was ruthlessly able to manipulate his responses.

 

Spike pulled him away from his hard on and pulled something silver out of his back pocket.

 

Xander stared at them.

 

Nipple clamps.

 

He'd never worn them. They looked as uncomfortable as the leather ties strangling his cock.

 

"Put them on," Spike ordered softly.

 

He dared a darting, pleading gaze at Spike but saw unflinching blue command in his eyes. Spike dared him to mess with him.

 

Xander took the clamps and pinched one of his nipples, putting it on. It hurt and his body jerked in reaction. He waited, hoping Spike would relent, but the boot nudged him between his legs, reminding him of how he'd been thoroughly subjugated by Spike.

 

He put on the other, hissing under his breath.

 

After a taunting pause, Spike's boot lifted and he nudged Xander's tortured nipples, brushing with measured passes. Xander moaned at the hot lick of pain and pleasure. He was so desperate now he would hump Spike's boot and not care who watched, as long as he was allowed to come.

 

It was then he made his mistake.

 

He glared up at Spike.

 

And the man sitting next to Spike looked down at him, seeing that the pet was daring to give forbidden eye contact.

 

Spike sized the moment up at a glance. His eyes were cold as he looked at Xander. He bent close. "I warned you."

 

"Spike..."

 

"Up. Bend over the table and spread your legs."

 

...

 

Something was wrong.

 

Angel sat up, wiping his eyes. He and Dawn had both fallen asleep.

 

He should check on Xander.

 

He smiled, remembering how he'd left him sleeping peacefully.

 

He'd looked so innocent. Not like a boy who sold himself.

 

As soon as he reached Xander's room, he knew he wasn't there. He couldn't hear Xander's heartbeat.

 

Angel paused, his gut twisting at this fresh betrayal. How could Xander have gone out without telling him?

 

He sniffed the air, finding the trail a couple of hours old.

 

Growling, eyes glowing hot gold, Angel set out to follow his boy.

 

His demon had had enough. It didn't matter if Angel was trying to keep himself from forbidden fruit.

 

Xander's days of whoring himself were over!

 

It was time Angel leashed the boy and made him stay home.

 

...

 

Xander bent over the table. Spike used his boot to knock his ankles so his legs were spread wide and then reached into a bag for something. Xander was breathing through his mouth, sweat prickling the back of his neck. The room was silent, all eyes on Spike and his 'pet' as he prepared to discipline him.

 

Spike pulled Xander's thighs back so his cock couldn't rub against the table edge.

 

He heard a whistling sound and then tiny, painful stinging sensations on his right ass cheek.

 

Spike was using some kind of small whip.

 

"Count the strokes."

 

Xander cleared his throat. He hated this, but Spike had warned him. As much as he hated Spike in this moment, he knew this would never have happened if he hadn't broken the taboo Spike had warned him about.

 

Xander knew, better than most, that sometimes you had to pay for your mistakes.

 

"One," he rasped.

 

"Say, thank you, sir," Spike bade in a silky voice.

 

"One, thank you, sir," Xander gritted. As the next lash came down, Xander reminded himself he was strong. He'd survive. It's what he did.

 

"Good boy."

 

...

 

Outside the place where Xander table stripped, Angel caught a taunting, familiar scent. He'd smelled it in the area a few times, but hadn't placed it. Now he smelled it and Xander. Baby oil and fresh semen.

 

He growled, the gas fumes and city scents would not stop him from following Xander's trace. His boy was frightened...and aroused.

 

Angel would find him.

 

...

 

Ass stinging and grimly fighting tears, Xander gave the last count. His hard on hadn't subsided. It hung heavy and needy between his legs like fruit desperate to be picked.

 

Spike pulled out a jar of lube. Xander watched out of the corner of his eye as he anointed the end of the small whip he'd used generously before pulling Xander's smarting ass cheeks apart and pushing the handle inside him.

 

"No..." Xander squirmed.

 

Spike smacked his sore ass. "Submit, boy."

 

Xander's body sagged. Spike shunted the thing inside him with insulting confidence, filling him, stretching him. He moved it around as Xander adjusted to it before finding something...something that felt good.

 

Spike fucked him with it, right there in front of every member of his meeting, until Xander was trembling, so desperate to come...

 

Spike stopped toying with Xander and sat back with a grunt. "Get me some water," Spike ordered.

 

Xander stumbled away from the table, feeling the tails of the whip sticking out of his rear end as he got Spike a glass of water from the table behind him. The thick whip handle brushed that something inside him, creating exciting sensations as he moved.

 

He gave Spike the water and collapsed at his feet.

 

Spike leaned down and unsnapped the nipple clamps. Xander gasped as they were removed and white hot sensation pricked from his nipples. It seemed to go straight to his balls, tightening them against his body.

 

"Here, drink this." Spike put the glass to Xander's lips. His voice was gentle. "You submitted and I know it was hard but you were very brave."

 

Weirdly, Xander felt his eyes fill with tears again. He didn't let them fall, but Spike's tenderness after how hard he'd been on him all evening made Xander want to crawl into his lap. Let Spike stroke his back. It made no sense, but that's how he felt. An overpowering need to give himself to Spike.

 

"Shhhh, come here, pet. Put your head against my knee. Just a few minutes more and they'll all leave, and then I'll see to you, right? It'll feel so good."

 

"Spike." Xander's tears burned against Spike's jean clad leg. He was shaking from unfamiliar and powerful feelings.

 

Spike pulled out another smoke and lit it. He took a deep puff, as if to calm himself, and Xander saw Spike's hands were shaking. So he wasn't as cool as he pretended.

 

Spike lifted Xander so he could reach Xander's sex. He began to give him a gentle hand job, which was oddly comforting.

 

Xander forgot his earlier anger. He pushed himself into Spike's touch, worn out from fighting him for the moment.

 

"Good boy. So good," Spike praised.

 

(to be continued)