He felt the heat soak through his skin, through his muscles and down to
the cold of his dead bones, soaking through him ever so slowly, spreading
inch by inch with deliberate fervor, the nerve endings stirring and
shaking to life. Suddenly oblivious to the air-conditioned air engulfing
him, he paused in wonder at the sensation.
That warmth grew as it spread through him, grew in pitch warming and
exciting his body until he could hear the blood rushing in his ears, that
warmth built into a full-blown fire tearing across his body, scorching.
He shuddered, losing minute control, the hot promises of that fire
beckoning and all too compelling, hypnotizing, that heat spreading through
him to consume him coming from one source, one touch - /his/ touch.
It was a simple brush of their hands, fingers grasping blinding across a
table for some forgotten purpose, a split-second exposure of ice to flame
- and they both jerked at the result. It was as if a jolt of flame jumped
from one to other, and their eyes clashed, work at hand dismissed.
Heat seared Spike, and he sat there shocked, eyes wide and locked with
Xander's, his mind failing to grasp the burning sensations tearing through
him with just one simple touch. His hand grasped at the plush chair, first
trying to rub off the heat, then the sweat.
After several moments, Xander simply smiled a very small smile - and Spike
felt that fire flare again as the man reached forward, fingers sliding
slowly across the burnished wood of the table, the near-silent swish of
warm skin against immoveable object filling Spike's ears just as pumping
blood had done in his earlier surprise, and he waited, frozen.
Delicious apprehension coiled in Spike's gut, along with a healthy dose of
fear - fear of the unknown - fear of burning ... burning up and out of
control. The addiction of playing with fire beckoned as Xander's hand
approached Spike's in what seemed to the vampire an eternity.
Then Xander paused, his solid, calloused fingers a mere twitch from
Spike's fine, tapered digits, and Spike trembled uncontrollably,
bewildered, as he felt the heat reaching out from Xander to him, and he
wanted it so badly. His blue eyes, flashing with moonlight gold, raised to
meet the melted chocolate brown of Xander's, and mesmerized, his lips
struggled to form some broken word, some plea, some cocky remark ...
But Xander saw the want, the need ... and the struggle between burning up
- or burning out -
