Holiday Mates: Supernatural Enforcers Agency Short Stories (3 page)

“Sshhhh,” he whispered.  They couldn’t hear anything.  “They probably didn’t hear us.”

“Am I heavy?”  Another thing the ex complained about.  ‘Oh no, we can’t have sex with you on top, you’ll crush me’.

“Not at all,” snickered Diaz.

“Shame,” she sniffed as her penguin thought ‘good to know’.  “You’re still squeezing my ass, you know?”

“I don’t want my fingers to cramp.”

“Ugh, worst excuse for copping a feel ever.  Bet you’re sorry Candace isn’t here with you instead of me.”

He didn’t even hesitate.  “Nah, her ass isn’t half as juicy as yours.”

“I’m flattered,” she said sarcastically, ignoring the fact that she really was flattered.

“Stating a fact, what are you doing after this?”

“You’re seriously asking me out during a hostage situation?”  Her penguin squawked at her to zip it. 

“Sure, why not?”

“You wouldn’t give me a second look if we weren’t tied together,” she huffed, again thinking of tall, leggy Candace.

His fingers continued his pleasurable movements over her cheeks.  “Please, I haven’t been able to get your ass out of my mind since you bent over earlier.”

“Yeah, right.”

“There’s a small blue stain in the middle of your right cheek; it looks like you sat on a pen.  And the pocket on the left cheek is starting to come undone on the right side.  You’re wearing red underwear – your panties were sticking out a little, and your purple vest is tucked into them,” he told her smugly.

Dang, he noticed all that in a three-second look?
  He really was paying attention.

“I had no idea about the stain.”

“It’s right here.”  He stroked a finger over the middle of her right cheek.

“Oh.”

“So why do you hate Christmas?”

“You want to talk about this now?”  Penny felt her Grinchy spirit return.

“Unless you want to continue talking about your butt?  Personally, I can talk about it all day long but…”

“It’s just… so phony.  Everyone pretending they like each other, the craziness and grabbing in the stores, the overspending – it’s just a load of hype and effort for one day and what do you get out of it?  Indigestion and a set of body oils from your grandmother that smell like cat pee.  Ugh, it’s awful!”

“Oh, it’s not that bad.”

Penny was on a roll now.  “Ugh, every year I have to fend off my dentist mom and sisters trying to set me up with their patients and the last time I let them the guy was seventy and had dentures.
  Seventy! 
They thought that I was at an age where I wouldn’t be that picky.  Oddly enough I don’t enjoy my family picking apart my love life, questioning my life choices and looking down on me because I’m just a waitress.”

“You’re a waitress?  Where?” he asked with genuine interest.

“Hell’s Belle’s it’s a…”

“That place where the hot waitresses come out to your car on roller skates?” he asked in frank excitement.

“Yes,” she giggled – and it was a genuine giggle.

“That place is awesome – I can’t believe I’ve never seen you there before.”

“Well, I have the morning shift – I’m such a good skater they trust me not to burn myself with the morning coffee.”  She was proud of that fact.  Her mom just laughed at her when she tried to explain it.  ‘Roller skating isn’t a career, Pingu’.  That was their nickname for her.  It was some penguin from a cartoon –
it was annoying
.

“I gotta swing by there in a morning then,” said Diaz thoughtfully.

“Oh well, it’s ah, two for one on Tuesdays.”  She cringed the moment she said it.

“Cool, you could skate on into my car and join me then.”  This was punctuated with a squeeze.

“Like I’ve never heard that one before.”

His hands stilled.  “The customers hit on you?”

“We wear tiny skirts and roller skates, what do you think?”  The men at the diner hit on her automatically because of both those facts, not because they were actually interested.

Penny felt the irritated rumble through his chest.  “Well, I could come along and beat up any dick who tries to flirt with you.”

Her penguin fluttered.  “Actually, I would enjoy that.”

He grunted and his fingers resumed their massage of her orbs, which she was enjoying far too much.  “As for Christmas, you’re thinking about it too much.  Isn’t it fun watching your family open their gifts, you know that they may not like their gifts, but they enjoy opening them.”

“Okay, that is quite nice.”  Those few moments were enjoyable.  The four-second look of wonder and excitement on their faces was fun.

“And the food,” he continued in boyish glee, “what other time of the year can you go nuts and stuff yourself full of sugar cookies shaped like stars?”

“I do like sugar cookies.”  Her ass he was lovingly kneading was a testament to that.

“And as for your family, I’m sure they just want you to be happy.”

Penny grunted.  “You’re very touchy feely for an SEA agent.”

“I thought we’d established that.”  She didn’t have to see his face to know he was leering as he caressed her cheeks.

“Ugh, you know what I mean.  What are you anyway?  Other than a pervert.  Wolf shifter?”

He snorted.  “Hell no, I’m no dog - I’m a jaguar.”

“Alley cat more like.”  Although her own little bird was impressed.  But then the bird was impressed when a guy opened a car for her –
she didn’t have high expectations
.

“You are one grumpy penguin,” he teased.

“Humph, it’s an unfair stereotype that penguins have to be cute.”

“You’re wrong, grumpy is cute.”

“Uh, your… your
flashlight
… it’s getting even bigger!”

Laughter made his chest expand, and she groaned around a mouthful of shirt.  “You sound surprised.  Seems like the men you dated before me were serious let downs.”

“It’s just… what do you mean dated
before
?”

“Hey, you want my
flashlight
to go down, you gotta stop turning me on.”

“Well what turns you off?” she snapped because it was seriously getting uncomfortable down there. 
Yes, she was starting to enjoy it, and that was unacceptable!

“Well… if I ever find out, I’ll let you know!”

“Ugh!”

She was about to launch into a complaining rant when they heard a scream.

“Oh no!  That doesn’t sound good,” she whimpered.

“No,” he added grimly.  He shuffled under her.  “You know I think that it might have loosened things up a bit when we fell over.  It won’t be easy, but if you could scoot up, I could get my claws out and cut through the ropes.”

Panic blossomed in her chest.  “You want to get out?  But you said your friends would work it out – and those men said they…”

“I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise,” he told her fiercely.

No, but what about him?
  Would he be okay?  “But…”

“I don’t like it, but I can live with them stealing stuff – insurance covers that, and we can catch them another day.  But I can’t sit by if they’re really hurting people.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

With a great deal of squirming and yelping, because the ropes were really digging into her skin, she managed to crawl up his body.

“Yes, it’s working!”  Steadily she moved up his body until her breasts were mashed against his face.  “How’s that?”

He made some muffled grunting noises and she squeaked.  The ropes loosened and she sat up crossing her arms over her chest.

“You just put my breast in your mouth!”

“No,” he said while also sitting up, and pulling the ropes from their bodies.  They were sitting face to face with her straddling him.  His
flashlight
was still enormous.  “I opened my mouth to say something and your breast was all I could taste… not that I’m complaining.”

“Ugh, you…”

“Babe, can we save our flirting for later?  I gotta make sure everyone’s okay out there.”  He gave her a devastating smile, and she almost melted right then and there.  Not that she’d admit that to him.

“I’d argue, but you’re right.  What do I do if they come back?”

Diaz cupped her cheek and stroked his thumb over her skin in a surprisingly tender move.  “Babe, it’ll be okay.   You can’t get out; they’ve got people on the exits.  So I want you to hide behind that reindeer over there.”

She glanced over at a disturbingly big and fearsome looking Rudolph.  He looked like he should have been pulling a sleigh in hell –
he had fangs!

“If they find you, scream like hell, and I’ll come running.”

Penny nodded.  “Okay.”

“I’m just going to take a look around, and I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay.”

“Remember my promise?”

“Okay.”

Diaz leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers.  “You can yell at me later for that.”

“I will,” she breathed as her cheeks flushed.

“Good, this too.”  He kissed her again, his mouth hot and insistent against hers as his tongue gained entry to her mouth and dueled with her own.

Reluctantly, he drew back and lifted her so he could get up.

“Don’t you have a gun or something?” she asked, wringing her small hands.

“Yes, but I don’t carry it when I’m off the clock.  Now, hide.”

“Be careful…” she whimpered at the same time as her penguin.  “Not that I care or anything… pervert.”

He winked at her as he left.

Her penguin flapped around, and she realized she felt real fear for him.  The thought that anything might happen to him terrified her.  He was incredibly irritating and a real pervert, but oh lord, she really liked him.  Watching him leave was tearing her heart in two.

She wasn’t sure that knowing she cared about him made it a better Christmas or not.

*

Diaz crept through the underwear section.  No one could manage stealth like a jaguar.  He could hear two of them talking.  They had no idea how close he was to them.

“What the fuck is taking so long?” snapped goon number one.

“That idiot Hans knocked the manager out,” said goon number two.

Hans
thought Diaz.  Maybe they were German.  It would certainly add to the Die Hard feel.

“No one else had the combination for the safe.”

“Shit.”

Diaz rolled his eyes and spotted a mannequin wearing a very fetching underwear set.  It was red velvet with white furry edges. 
Damn, Penny would look good in that
.  His lusty beast agreed with a growl.  Okay, focus Diaz.

She could wear her roller skates and skate around his apartment wearing just the underwear.  Enough, he had to focus, but all his instincts and his beast were trying to drag him back to Penny.

He needed to see
Penny
.

He had to make sure
Penny
was safe.

He wanted
Penny
.

There was another scream.

Shit
.

“What’s that?” asked goon number one.

“Darius, he’s having a bit of fun with the female hostages.”

“Fuck, I wish he wouldn’t.  I just want to get out of here.”

Diaz darted past underwear in the direction of the scream. 
Time to put a stop to Darius.

*

Diaz was taking too long.  What if they’d caught him?  What if they were hurting him?  What if they were pummeling his beautiful face? 
No, she couldn’t allow that
.  She had to save him.

Penny snuck out from her hiding place.  So far, so good.  She actually made it through the toy section.  Right until she ran smack dab into the chest of Smelly Greaseball.

“How did you get free?” he muttered gripping her shoulder.

Think fast.  “Ah, I didn’t.  I’m not the same girl you caught earlier.”

In her defense that almost worked.  He was confused for a few moments before he processed it.  When he realized, he tightened his grip.  But before he could say anything else his eyes widened and he made a gurgling sound.  He slumped forward, his head falling into her breasts.

“Eew, get off!”

Diaz pulled him off her and slung Smelly Greaseball over his shoulder.

“Come on,” he ordered.

She stared at him open mouthed as he ran off, the guy bobbing on his shoulder.  Then he ran back, grabbed her hand and dragged her with him.

They heard voices coming their way, and they ducked behind the Lego train.

“I told you to hide,” he whispered furiously.

Her penguin chirped in relief that he was okay.  “I was worried about you,” she admitted before she could stop herself.