The way Lane looked right now, all Spike wanted to do was tear the clothes off him and fuck him, bite him, ravage him - but now this had come up, he had to make sure Lane really understood. Because he was falling himself here, and he didn't think he could face giving so much of himself just to have it swept away when Lane really came to terms with the fact he was in love with a demon.
He said harshly, "You only know me as I am now. Impotent. Spayed. Harmless. You're forgetting what I used to be: a killer. Worse, because I played with the people I killed. And unlike you, I didn't stop because I chose to. I stopped because I had to. And I ever get rid of whatever those Initiative bastards did to me, I'll go straight back to killing. That's the creature you say you love."