Charles Gunn grimaced as he took in the sight of the old DeSoto. He only knew of one person that Angel knew who owned a car like that....Spike. He squinted, barely making out two figures in the car and it looked like they were arguing. He couldn’t recall Angel telling them that the prodigal son was returning, so why was the blond vampire here? And who was the other person? As he turned to go inside, one of the doors burst open and a handsome, dark-haired kid got out and he looked pissed off.

"Fine! I brought it up, but sorry isn’t going to cut it, Spike! We’ll talk about it later." The last part was added as Xander caught sight of Gunn. Spike’s door opened and a blanket-clad Spike got out. Gunn couldn’t tell which of the two was more pissed off.

"We’ll talk about it now, Xander! What the hell..." He broke off as he noticed Gunn watching them. "What are you looking at, you twat? Never saw two people have a row before? Why don’t you run along and tell Peaches I’m here like a good little minion?" The blond sneered at the man. Gunn stiffened at the insults and curled his upper lip.

"Shut up, Spike!" Xander hissed at his mate. "This has nothing to do with him! It’s between you and me." He glared at his golden-eyed lover before turning back to the other man. "I’m Xander Harris...I take it, you know him." He gestured to the seething blond. Gunn warily reached out and took Xander’s hand. "I’m a friend of Buffy’s and Cordy’s from Sunnydale." Gunn relaxed at the sound of Cordelia’s name.

"Charles Gunn...everybody calls me Gunn. I work with Cordy and Angel and everybody."

"Is Angel around? We kind of need to talk to him."

"Problems in Sunnydale?" Gunn asked, immediately alert.

"It’s a family thing, mate." Spike added, his insolent tone making it clear that Gunn was not a party to what was going on. Xander rolled his eyes.

"He’s upstairs. Second floor, three doors to your left." Gunn offered the information to Xander, but couldn’t quite keep his lips from tightening. Xander nodded. Spike growled softly as his lover shoved him none-too-gently towards the steps leading to the hotel.

"I’ll go in first...you’re just going to piss him off." Xander glowered at his husband once they were in the safety of the building. He turned and came face to face with a growling, vamped out Spike. "Oh, don’t you snarl at me, mister. I’m not afraid of you. You wait here and when it’s cool, I’ll call you in." He reached out and gently stroked his vampire’s ridges. "I’m sorry for the stuff in the car. I love you, you know that, right?." Spike began to purr softly, rubbing his face against Xander’s hand in forgiveness and apology. Spike watched as Xander walked down the hall. Xander knocked on the door and was allowed in.

Xander gave Angel a somewhat shaky smile as he closed the door and greeted him with a nod. He saw Angel stand up to shake his hand and he stepped closer to the vampire, almost breathing a sigh of relief.

"Xander! You’re looking..." Angel’s semi-friendly greeting trailed off as the dark-haired vamp scented the air, his nose twitching. In less than two seconds, Angel’s face changed from human to demon. He growled at Xander, moving closer. "Claimed!" He snarled, knowing that the scent that was all over the boy belonged to Spike. Xander stumbled back in surprise and fear as Angel advanced menacingly towards him. He should have remembered that Angel would be able to smell Spike all over him.

"Spike! Spike!" The boy shouted, the fear in his voice obvious. The blond burst through the door and planted himself protectively between his Sire and his mate. The vampires growled at each other, baring their fangs, and Xander used his husband as a body shield. "Spike, I don’t want to die on my honeymoon. Can’t we talk about this rationally?" He directed the last part to Angel, who only growled louder. Spike snarled at his Sire.

"Don’t fret, Xander, luv. His bark is worse than his bite. Back off, Peaches, you’re making my mate nervous." Spike said through a mouthful of fangs.

Angel’s features melted into his human face and he stared at the boy in complete shock and something akin to horror.

"Mate? Honeymoon?" He yelped, the word finally penetrating his brain. "Xander, do you have any idea how claiming works? It can’t be undone! You’re bound for all of eternity to Spike! You can’t possibly want that!"

"Oi! I’m bloody standing right here, Angelus!" Spike glared at him, his face in its human form as well, though his eyes flashed gold.

"Of course, I want it! I asked Spike to claim me, it was my decision. He told me how claims work and I wanted it. I love him. I belong to him and he belongs to me. If you can’t understand that or if you don’t accept it, we’ll go back to Sunnydale where they do."

"Buffy knows about this? And she’s okay with it? That doesn’t sound like Buffy to me...letting her friends go off with Spike and all."

"Letting? Letting? Nobody lets me do anything! In case you missed it, I am a grown man, Angel!" Xander’s eyes glittered dangerously. Angel let his dark gaze slide over the boy...Xander had filled out quite nicely. He jerked his eyes back up to Xander's face when he heard Spike's warning growl. "Don’t you make me into some kind of lackey who follows orders from Buffy! I’m her friend and yeah, she was pissed at first, but she doesn’t have a say in this and neither do you!"

"Come on, luv, let’s go. I told you that he wouldn’t accept that I claimed you. We’ll find a nice hotel with a honeymoon suite and a hot tub...we passed a Hilton on our way into the city." Spike said.

"I saw a Holiday Inn." Xander said, dismissing the Hilton as too ritzy and probably tacky too. He saw Spike’s grimace turn into a lip-quivering pout and sighed, "All right...but you owe me big. This paycheck has to last me awhile."

"The Hyperion has a honeymoon suite." Angel sighed, not quite sure why he was offering a room to his wayward Childe and his new son-in-law...Xander Harris.

"Well, I am tired." Xander shrugged. Spike made a face, but slowly nodded. Xander kissed him gently on the mouth.

"It’s your honeymoon, baby. I guess I can’t complain if you want to spend it...here." Spike looked around the hotel with obvious distaste. Xander secretly pinched one of Spike’s nipples, making the blond yelp. "You little..."

"I’ll do anything that you want..." Xander whispered, "Anything." Spike closed his eyes, groaning at the naughty images that filled his head at his mate’s words.

"I’m in." Spike announced. "Where’s this honeymoon suite, Peaches?" Angel nearly swallowed his tongue when he heard Xander’s arousing offer to Spike. He wondered for a brief second if they would let him watch. Shaking and slapping himself mentally, the dark vamp gave them directions and sighed in relief as they left. He dialed a familiar number on the phone without giving it a second thought.

"Wes? My...uh...office...now." Wesley owed him big and it was time to collect and from all the pheromones he’d smelled coming off the demon hunter lately, Wesley wasn’t about to say no. Spike wasn’t the only one who was going to get a little action tonight. Damn, but Xander Harris had grown up nice...all muscles and those dreamy eyes...not the scrawny little boy that Angel remembered. Must be something in the sack, too, vampires didn't usually claim humans, no matter how good they looked. Then again, Spike had always had a thing for the boy. Angel just never thought that the kid would ever give his Childe the time of day. He shook his head...Xander Harris claimed by William the Bloody aka Spike...did someone forget to tell him that hell had finally frozen over?

"Angel? You wanted me?" Wesley asked as he walked in, halting in his tracks at the heated look his boss gave him. Wes swallowed, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. He watched as the vampire moved toward him. "Angel?" He whispered, blinking as Angel closed in on him. To his surprise, the vampire walked past him, closing the door and...locking it. His stomach muscles clenched at the look Angel was now giving him. "What are you...mmmpphh..." He moaned as Angel’s lips captured his in a hungry kiss. The demon hunter practically melted against the vampire. Threading his fingers through Wesley’s short dark hair, Angel deepened the kiss. He moved towards the couch, gently depositing Wes on it. The man blinked up at him with stunned blue eyes. Angel sank on the cushion next to him, his dark eyes full of lust.

"Oh, yeah...I wanted you, all right. You owe me...time to pay up." Angel purred. "Did you think I wouldn’t notice? You’re a little cocktease, aren’t ya, Wes?"

"No...I..." Wes began to protest, blushing. Angel put a finger against his lips, cutting him off. Wesley gasped as Angel began to tease his lips with that finger.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire..." Angel said in a soft voice that reminded Wesley of Angelus. Soft and mocking, with the barest hint of laughter. "All those longing looks, the ‘accidental’ brushing up against me, all the pheromones I smell coming off you in waves...I’m going to give you just what you’ve been dying for, Wes."

"Angel?" He asked, almost afraid that he was with the evil Master vampire and not his friend...the man he had fallen in love with.

"Don’t sound so scared, baby...My soul’s intact." He slid a hand around Wesley’s head, cupping it, stroking the silky dark strands at the nape of Wesley’s neck with his thumb. Wes moaned softly, his lips parting. Angel leaned in, teasing Wes with the barest of kisses before claiming his mouth with a possessiveness that made them both weak in the knees.

A few rooms down the hall, Xander bit his lip as he watched his husband handcuff his left wrist to the bedpost. Spike took hold of his other wrist and cuffed it as well.

"You know, baby, when I said I’d do anything...I wasn’t referring to bondage." He complained, looking from one restrained arm to the other, tied spreadeagle on either side of the bed. It felt so weird to see himself naked and tied to a bed.

"Oh, so you can tie me to a chair, but I can’t handcuff you or tie you to the bed? That’s not fair, luv. Don’t tell me that you didn’t get off on tying me up...there’s just something about someone else being so helpless..." Spike licked at Xander’s parted lips, making his mate moan. Xander shuddered. "Something so arousing about wielding power over someone...knowing that they want what you are doing as much as you do." Spike murmured, kissing his way down Xander’s chin, down his throat, nipping at the throbbing pulse there, moving down his body. Xander whimpered as Spike teased his nipples, crying out as his mate swirled his tongue around the stiff peaks. "See? Not complaining now, are ya, luv? Let Spike take care of you, baby." He crooned, lapping at one of the sensitive nipples.

TBC...